El Brad Pitt arrested in Mexico

Mexican state police have apprehended the leader of a street gang that has ties to a large drug cartel.

Marco Antonio Guzman Zuniga, who is nicknamed El Brad Pitt, is the leader of Chihuahuan street gang La Linea.

Guzman Zuniga was arrested in connection with a two drug cartel-related crimes: a car bomb set off outside a police station in 2010 and the murder of man whose death was videotaped and put on the internet. Police also suspect that Guzman Zuniga is responsible for the death of two bodyguards in Chihuahua this month, CNN reports.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, El Brad Pitt managed drug operations in several cities and has been involved in multiple murders of rivals and police officers, as well as car theft.

Mexican authorities put a 500,000 ($42,000) peso reward out for the capture of Guzman Zuniga. As per usual in Mexico, Guzman Zuniga was displayed in front of the media at a press conference after his capture.

La Linea is the enforcement arm of the powerful and violent Juarez cartel, based in Ciudad Juarez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua near the US border. The gang is said to be made up of corrupt state policeman, and Guzman Zuniga himself is a former officer.

Nicknames are common in the Mexican criminal world.

[El Brad Pitt] is a name given to the man by his associates. I guess they think he looks like him, a spokeswoman for federal police told Reuters.

Drug-related violence in Mexico exploded in 2006 when the government launched an offensive against organized crime. Since then, 37,000 people have been killed, including civilians, government officials and army soldiers.