Mexico arrests 'The Sledgehammer,' alleged Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel chief - CNN

Federal and state authorities arrested Yépez Ortiz in the central state of Guanajuato, according to a joint statement released by the Guanajuato government and Mexico's Secretariat of Public Security.

At least five other people were detained in the joint operation, and a businesswoman who had been kidnapped was rescued, the statement said.

Mexico's Security Minister, Alfonso Durazo, confirmed Yépez Ortiz's detention via Twitter, adding that he was detained through an arrest warrant for "organized crime and fuel theft."

In a video posted on his Twitter account, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador praised the arrest.

"The Ministry of National Defense, with the local government's support, achieved this very important detention," López Obrador said.

"We need to continue attending to the causes that provoke violence.

We say no to corruption and impunity."

López Obrador has come under fire for his noncombative approach to organized crime, after campaigning on a strategy he dubbed "abrazos, no balazos," or hugs, not bullets.