Days before President Barack Obama arrives in Mexico to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto, the country captured the father-in-law to Mexico’s most wanted man, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The man is one of the highest profile crime figures arrested since Peña Nieto took office.
The arrest happened in Agua Prieta, Sonora, just across the border from Douglas, Ariz.
Ines Coronel Barrera is accused of trafficking marijuana for his son-in-law, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Coronel is father to Guzmán’s third wife.
Last January, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Coronel under the Kingpin Act, effectively blacklisting him from doing business with U.S. companies. Treasury listed his business in San Luis Río Colorado, however, and made no mention of Agua Prieta, where Coronel was arrested along with other suspects.
Peña Nieto has downplayed his fight against organized crime since he took office. This recent arrest made less than two days before Obama visits, is a departure from that policy.
