Mexican marines captured Sergio Villarreal Barragan, a presumed leader of the embattled Beltran Leyva cartel who appears on a list of the country’s most-wanted fugitives, in a raid in the central state of Puebla, the government said.

Federal troops stormed a seaside holiday home and captured one of the country’s most brutal drug lords, the second time in less than a month that Mexico took one of its most powerful traffickers off the streets.

MEXICAN police have captured alleged drug lord Carlos Beltran Leyva, just two weeks after his even more powerful brother was killed in a shootout with troops – back-to-back victories in President Felipe Calderon’s drug war.