The alleged head of the Gulf drug cartel, one of the most dangerous Mexican organizations, was arrested in Texas last week.

The Los Angeles Times reported Juan Francisco Saenz-Tamez, 23, of Camargo, in Tamaulipas state, was arrested by U.S. officials.

Saenz-Tamez was indicted in federal court in September 2013, by a grand jury, on charges of drug trafficking which includes conspiring to ship thousands of pounds of cocaine to Texas, Florida, Washington, D.C., and along the Eastern Seaboard.

He was arrested while shopping in Edinburg, Texas.

Saenz-Tamez rose through the ranks of the cartel, which is one of the most violent in the Tamaulipas state.

Cartel members from Gulf, or possibly even the Zetas cartel, may have been behind the recent killing of a citizen journalist who outed members and posted images of the crimes committed by the gangs.

John M. Bales, U.S. attorney in Beaumont, Texas, said the arrest was "further proof that justice is prevailing in Mexico," according to the LA Times.

Michele M. Leonhart, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said that Saenz-Tamez had worked his way up in the cartel from positions such as a lookout or record-keeper to leading the cartel.

Leonhart said Saenz-Tamez is responsible for much of the bloodshed caused by the Gulf gang.

Saenz-Tamez is being held in Beaumont and authorities anticipating being able to seize at least $100 million in assets from his illicit sales.

He is also charged with money laundering.

The Gulf cartel was once a single and strong cartel, which is involved in moving marijuana and cocaine to the U.S. through the border city of Matamoros. It then became rivals with the Zetas cartel, which split off from them and is now battling for control in the Tamaulipas state.

The arrest of Saenz-Tamez is one of several in recent months -- since the influx of immigrants over the border -- as a signal from Mexico that they are aggressively tackling their problems.