Mexican special forces arrest top commander of cartel and his alleged money launderer

US embassy warns employees to avoid Reynosa area after arrests of Audias Flores and Cesar Alejandro N'

The Mexican authorities have arrested two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), prompting gunmen to block roads near the border city of Reynosa.

Audias Flores, known as El Jardinero", is a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico's Pacific coast. He was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias El Mencho", who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February.