Sao Paulo: Brazilian federal police have arrested an alleged Mexican drug boss, prosecutors said on Wednesday, in a blow to one of the most powerful organisations in Mexico's criminal underworld.

According to the arrest warrant, police detained Jose Gonzalez Valencia, 42, a leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), with the intention of fulfilling a US extradition request.

Presidio Beach in Aquiraz, Fortaleza, Brazil. Credit:Aquiraz Tourism

Once a little-known gang, the CJNG has grown in recent years to challenge the Sinaloa Cartel of captured kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman for primacy of the drug trade in Mexico.