Guatemala President Otto Perez Molina announced on Friday an alleged gang member who had been suspected of ordering the recent killing of a young journalist has been arrested.

Prosecutors said a wiretap had been used to capture the murder suspect Antonio Televario Navichoc.

Navichoc is accused of having ordered the murder of Guido Villatoro, a reporter and cameraman working for the local channel Servicable in the southwestern department of Suchitepequez.

Villatoro was gunned down on March 13 as he entered the office where he worked.

Investigators involved in the case believe the 20-year-old was killed because his employer refused to make an extortion payment.

As reported by The Associated Press, President Perez Molina referred to Navichoc as "the intellectual author of this murder."

Guatemalan authorities have described the arrested Navichoc as one of two leaders of a Mara 18 street gang cell that is responsible for running extortion rackets within the region.

Along with Navichoc, 13 other suspected gang members were arrested.

Authorities have tied the suspects to 11 killings that took place in southern Guatemala and in the capital.

Among the victims were police officers as well as bus drivers.

Four days prior to Villatoro's murder, a group of unidentified gunmen killed two journalists and wounded another in a shooting in Mazatenango, an area which is also in the department of Suchitepequez.

Authorities speculated the attack was aimed at one of the murdered men: Danilo Lopez.

Lopez, who was part of the Prensa Libre newspaper, had claimed that several mayors had threatened him over articles about corruption.

Central America's gang-infested northern triangle -- an area which includes the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador -- is considered one of the most violent regions in the entire world.