The leader of the Gulf drug gang has been captured in a blow to the criminal groups that have terrorised Mexico for years.
The interior ministry said that soldiers captured Mario Ramirez Trevino, described as "the head of a criminal organisation that operated in the north of the country", in an operation on Saturday.
It is the second major success against the drug gangs for President Enrique Pena Nieto after the arrest last month of Miguel Angel Trevino, the head of the paramilitary Zetas cartel.
Pena Nieto, who took office in December last year, has pledged to reduce drug-related violence that has resulted in more than 70,000 murders since 2006.
Ramirez Trevino was captured in Rio Bravo, a town on the border with Texas, according to a justice source in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. Mexican military helicopters buzzed across the region.
The United States had offered a US$5 million reward for information leading to Ramirez Trevino's arrest.