Mexico hails 'Sledgehammer' arrest but murder crisis still a tough nut to crack

The capture of Jose Antonio El Marro' Yepez, a top gangster in violence-stricken Guanajuato state, gives a boost to the president

Mexico's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has hailed the capture of one of the country's most notorious gangsters as an important victory in his so far fruitless struggle to slash murder rates.

In a Sunday night video message to the nation, Lopez Obrador said security forces had seized El Marro" or the Sledgehammer" - the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel - at about 6am that morning in the violence-stricken state of Guanajuato.