Damaso Lopez Serrano, a former high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, arrested

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the arrest of Damaso Lopez Serrano, a former top member of the Sinaloa Cartel, in the United States. The subject was on parole after being arrested in 2017.

"It is a very important arrest,” said the Mexican president when questioned by the press during a tour in Palenque, Chiapas (Mexico).

The president said that her government would give more details about the arrest at a later date. According to reports, Lopez Serrano was arrested on Friday in Virginia, United States, on charges of fentanyl trafficking.

Damaso Lopez Serrano, known as the “Mini Lic,” was arrested originally in 2017 when he voluntarily surrendered to U.S. authorities.

At the time, the U.S. government said he was the highest-level member of a cartel who voluntarily surrendered to authorities.

Lopez Serrano pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine, although according to the Mexican press he was paroled from prison in 2022.

The Sinaloa cartel, AFP recalled, is one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and was founded by Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, who is now serving a life sentence in the United States.