Mexico’s biggest meth producer and aide to ‘El Chapo’ captured

One of Mexico's main producers of methamphetamine, Jaime Herrera Herrera, has been arrested in Culiacan in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa.

Herrera (43), also known as 'El Viejito' or 'the Old Man', is reportedly linked to Mexico's most wanted man: the Sinaloa cartel leader, Joaquin Guzman or 'El Chapo'.   He is also wanted in the United States, BBC and Reuters report.

Following the capture, police presented Herrera to photographers in Mexico City, Reuters.

They say he was arrested with an alleged accomplice, and a pile of guns, drugs and radios.

"It is a powerful blow because Jaime Herrera was one of the main producers of methamphetamine, or ice.  With the monthly production he had, he was a strong generator of money for the organisation," the Federal Police anti-drug chief Ramon Pequeno is quoted as saying.

Associated Press reported that police claim Herrera admitted he had smuggled tons of methamphetamine from Sinaloa to be sold in the Los Angeles area over the last decade.  

Members of his family have been convicted of trafficking heroin and other drugs in both Mexico and the United States since the 1950s.

Guzman is thought to be hiding in the Sierra Madre mountains close to where Herrera was captured, Reuters says. Authorities are offering a US$5 million reward for his arrest.

In a more detailed report, Associated Press says Herrera's capture comes amid mounting evidence that the Guzman's cartel is producing methamphetamine on an industrial scale.