The Mexican Army said Aug. 24 that soldiers captured Luis Ricardo Magana, who prosecutors describe as a leading member of the violent La Familia drug cartel.

Magana is allegedly on the level of cartel leader Servando "La Tuta" Gomez and purportedly controlled methamphetamine shipments to the United States for the gang, Gen. Luis Arturo Oliver said. Gomez is one of Mexico's most-wanted fugitives and is blamed for retaliation attacks on federal police in the cartel's home state of Michoacan in western Mexico.

Oliver said Magana was captured Aug. 23 in the Pacific Coast port of Manzanillo along with five men believed to be his bodyguards. Magana was known by the alias "19 1/2" — traffickers frequently use codes and numbers similar to radio call signs to identify themselves.

The La Familia cartel has been responsible for large-scale methamphetamine production at labs hidden in rural areas. The gang also runs kidnapping, extortion and other illicit endeavors.