SAN PEDRO, Nuevo León– The recent arrest of one of the most wanted drug lords in this state could uncover a network of law enforcement and government officials who have been providing support to the Beltran Leyva Cartel.

The arrest in this city took place when 27-year-old Eleazar “El Cochi or Commander 19” Palomo Castillo tried to avoid a checkpoint set up by the Mexican Navy. Palomo is considered to be a regional boss for the Beltran Leyva cartel.

According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by military authorities who took part in the arrest, Beltran Leyva’s Palomo Castillo took over the drug distribution networks in this city’s most exclusive areas such as Centrito Valle. The drug lord also managed to co-opt more than 20 municipal police officers in order to receive exact information about operations from the unified communications center, known as C4. During the past two years, the police force in the town of San Pedro has known about the presence of street level dealers run by El Cochi in nightclubs and luxurious businesses where students and the sons of rich businessmen go party on weekends.

After the arrest of El Cochi by federal authorities, investigators expect to be able to learn the names and codenames of local and state officers who received bribes in exchange for letting the drug lord operate in the area. In the past, authorities have publicly referred to San Pedro as the safest city in Mexico.

The information provided by authorities revealed that under his role as drug lord, El Cochi bribes police officers and ministerial cops to work in the kidnappings and extortion cases of rival criminals who tried to move in to his plaza in San Pedro.

El Cochi has been linked to the execution of Pedro Anuar Martinez, the son of the San Pedro police chief and Carlos Arturo Valle Novelo, the intelligence chief for the State Ministerial Police. The homicides took place after a luxurious watch went missing from a crime scene. The timepiece appears to have been stolen and not turned in as evidence to investigators.

In December 2015, Mexican marines in San Pedro arrested multiple suspected gunmen. Initial information pointed to El Cochi being among those arrested, but later proved inaccurate. Rumors have since spread that the drug lord was released after paying a bribe.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Tony Aranda from Monterrey, Nuevo León.