Man with the golden gun: Gold plated AK-47 confiscated during arrest of Mexican cartel leader (and h
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Far more deadly than any James Bond villain, Mexican drug cartel leader Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez stands in front of his gold plated AK-47 rifle after his arrest by police yesterday.
Defiantly posing with his thumbs up and smiling for the cameras, the capture of the La Resistencia founder is a coup for Mexican police who have struggled to deal with the rabid rise of drug related violence since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels in 2006.
The triumphant Mexican counter-narcotics Police Chief Ramon Eduardo Pequeno said that 42-year-old Pozos had formerly been a member of the Milenio drug cartel in the south of the country before leaving to found the La Resistencia group in 2010.
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Alleged cartel and crime leader Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez, is presented to the press in Mexico City and defiantly gives the thumbs up in front of his gold-plated AK-47 and ammunition
Along with the gold-plated rifle, police recovered gold-plated ammunition magazines and golden-tipped bullets from Pozos' hideout in in the south-western state of Jalisco.
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SharePosession of a gaudy weapon has long been a status symbol among Mexican drug lords, who have been responsible for the deaths of more than 55,000 people as the vicious narcotics war dominates life in parts of Mexico, leading to open gun battles between the cartels, the army and the police.
A gold-plated AK-47 rifle seized from Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez complete with gold-plated magazines and gold plated bullet-tips
It has been a good week for Mexican law enforcement officers as they also announced today the arrest of the powerful Gulf cartel's boss - Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez.
Adm. Jose Luis Vergara, a navy spokesman, said the burly, mustachioed man detained Wednesday evening in the Gulf port of Tampico was the capo known as "El Coss." One of Mexico's most-wanted men
Clad in a blue plaid shirt and bulletproof vest, the suspect was presented along with 10 bodyguards, five with bruised faces and clad in camouflage military fatigues similar to those of the marines who held them captive.
The navy also showed dozens of assault weapons, some pistols that appeared gilded and studded with jewels, and several expensive-looking watches seized in the operation.
Pleased with himself, Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez gives the thumbs-up sign tot he gathered media (left) before he is led away
The Federal Police Hangar in Mexico City where Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez, was presented to the press
Costilla shook his head when asked if he had anything to say about the charges against him and when asked if he had a lawyer.
Costilla was born in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas. He worked for several years as a local police officer before allegedly joining the Gulf Cartel in the 1990s and becoming a lieutenant for then-leader Osiel Cardenas Guillen.
After Cardenas Guillen was arrested in 2003 and imprisoned in the U.S., officials say Costilla joined the capo's brother Ezequiel in running the cartel.
The tumult at the top prompted the powerful Sinaloa cartel to move in from its base along the Pacific Coast and launch a war for control of Nuevo Laredo, the busiest cargo crossing between the United States and Mexico
Mexican marines escort head of the Gulf Cartel Jorge Eduardo "El Coss" Costilla Sanchez, as he is presented to the media in Mexico City today
El Coss's capture would be a significant victory for the marines, who were embarrassed in June after announcing they had nabbed the son of Mexico's top fugitive drug lord.
It turned out the man wasn't the son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, but rather Felix Beltran Leon, 23, a stocky, baby-faced suspect whose family said he was the father of a toddler and worked with his mother-in-law at a used car dealership. He remains in custody, authorities say, because guns and money were found when he was arrested.
Nicknamed 'El Coss,' Costilla was a somber capo who kept a low profile. Only two photographs of the round-faced, mustached drug trafficker were ever made public before his arrest.
Video: Leader of "La Resistencia" cartel grins as he is paraded for cameras
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