Mexico president says gang leader ‘El Marro’ not target in security clashes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that a security operation in the Mexican state of Guanajuato was not aimed at capturing gang leader Jose “El Marro” Yepez, saying clashes in the state were a reaction to previous arrests.

Brazen skirmishes in the central city of Celaya on Tuesday led to widespread speculation that security forces had closed in on Yepez, the head of the state’s Santa Rosa de Lima criminal cartel, and possibly arrested him.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Writing by Julia Love; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)