A man believed to be the leader of the Gulf drug cartel, which controls some of the most valuable and violently contested smuggling routes along the US border, was arrested by Mexican marines and paraded before the public.

A man believed to be the leader of the Gulf drug cartel, which controls some of the most valuable and violently contested smuggling routes along the US border, has been arrested by Mexican marines, the navy said.

Alleged drug cartel leader Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen was killed in a shootout in the border city of Matamoros, a Mexican official said.