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Guatemala nabs alleged Zetas member wanted in US

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A senior official says an alleged Zetas leader in Guatemala who is wanted in the United States has been arrested after a firefight in the eastern part of the Central American country.

Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla said Friday that Jairo Orellana Morales was arrested in Zacapa province after a shootout with federal forces that killed a police officer and two others.

Lopez Bonilla said Orellana Morales was arrested Thursday along with seven of his accomplices.

The U.S. government last year imposed financial sanctions against the 40-year-old alleged drug trafficker under the Kingpin Act, which makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to do business with him and freezes his assets.

The U.S. government described him then as “a violent drug trafficker linked to the Zetas cartel.”

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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