EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Mexican police say they captured the lieutenant of a Sinaloa cartel cell operating in Western Chihuahua.

A task force of state police officers and Mexican National Guardsmen on Friday arrested Benigno O.M., a.k.a. “El Beny,” on weapons charges. Authorities describe the suspect as a leader in the Sinaloa cartel’s Gente Nueva del Tigre cell in Western Chihuahua.

The officers and soldiers allegedly found a loaded 9 mm gun, extra gun magazines and loose ammunition for a large-caliber semiautomatic rifle. They also seized a white 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee with an altered vehicle identification number. The arrest took place in the town of Cuauhtemoc, 360 miles south of El Paso.

El Beny “has been identified as an important part within the structure of the criminal group mentioned,” the Chihuahua Attorney General’s office said in a statement on Monday.

Benigno O.M. “El Beny” and The weapon and ammo seized. (State of Chihuahua)

Gente Nueva is a Sinaloa cartel cell involved in a struggle against the former Juarez cartel (La Linea) for control drug trafficking routes from Chihuahua to the United States. The two groups clashed in the town of Las Varas, Chihuahua, in April of 2020, resulting in the death of 19 people.

The Mexican army last October arrested Francisco Arvizu, a.k.a. “The Jaguar,” who was the last known top commander of Gente Nueva in Western Chihuahua.