MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican federal police
Thursday announced the capture of a senior crime boss linked to
the powerful Juarez drug cartel known as "El Brad Pitt."
In a statement, the police said they had arrested
34-year-old Marco Guzman, alias "El Brad Pitt" or "El Dos"
(Number 2), a leader of the cartel's armed wing, La Linea.
"It's a name given to the man by his associates. I guess
they think he looks like him," a spokeswoman for federal police
said, referring to the 47-year-old Hollywood star Pitt.
A police photo taken after the arrest showed Guzman to have
black hair, receding slightly at the temples, dark eyes and a
goatee beard. His nose appears to resemble Pitt's.
Members of Mexican drug gangs commonly have nicknames
which can be prosaic "El Gordo" (fatso), colorful "El Piolin"
(Tweety) and often somewhat bizarre: "El Winnie Pooh".
Formed by renegade police officers in the northern state of
Chihuahua, La Linea act as enforcers for the Juarez cartel, a
group based in the border city of Ciudad Juarez which controls
some of the main drug trafficking routes to the United States.
Police arrested Guzman with two other suspected drug gang
members in the state capital, the city of Chihuahua. He was
wanted in connection with murders, kidnapping and attacks on
police and had a 500,000 peso ($42,000) reward on his head.
(Reporting by Dave Graham)
© 2013 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.