Mexican police have arrested top drug trafficker Edgar Valdez, a US citizen also known as Barbie, Mexico's attorney general says.

墨西哥司法部长称，墨西哥警方逮捕头号毒品贩子埃德加·瓦尔迪兹，一位被称为芭比娃娃的美国公民。

Valdez had a $2m tag on his head

He was reportedly detained in the centre of the country.

Edgar Valdez is linked to the influential¹ Beltran Leyva drug cartel（贩毒集团） .

Mr Valdez has been fighting Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the drug cartel, previously² led by his brother Arturo until he was shot dead by the Mexican security forces last December.

Earlier this month, police found four decapitated（斩首，杀头） bodies hung from a bridge in the city of Cuernavaca and their heads were discovered nearby with a message warning that anyone supporting Edgar Valdez would risk a similar fate.

The US authorities have offered $2m (£1.3m) for information leading to the arrest of the 37-year-old, who was also known as "El Comandante" and "El Guero", as well as "Barbie", because of his fair complexion³（肤色，面色） and blue eyes.

Mr Valdez, who is notorious for his looks and for his violence, has been charged with distributing thousands of kilos of cocaine⁴ in the eastern US between 2004 and 2006.

His arrest is likely to be seen as a another success for President Felipe Calderon in his battle against violent Mexican drug cartels.

In July, security forces killed Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, a top member of the Sinaloa drug cartel and believed to be the right-hand man of Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the country's most-wanted drug lord.

Soon after taking office in December 2006, President Felipe Calderon launched an all-out war against the drug cartels.

In many parts of the country he has deployed⁵ the army against the traffickers despite the opposition⁶ of many of his critics.

The war against the drug cartels has left some 25,000 people dead since Mr Calderon came to power.

The federal police force in Mexico said on Monday it had sacked almost 10% - some 3,200 - of its officers this year for corruption⁷, incompetence⁸（无资格，无能力） or links to criminals.