Mexico man 'not drug cartel head'

Mr Carrillo Fuentes is on a US list of wanted drug smugglers

Mexican authorities say a man they have held since the weekend is not Juarez drug cartel chief Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, as they had suspected.

Assistant Attorney-General Jose Luis Santiago said DNA tests with relatives of the fugitive had not produced a match with the suspect.

Officials said the man - who relatives say is an architect, Joaquin Romero - is still being detained.

They say they are investigating other possible drug links.

This is not the authorities' first case of mistaken identity. Last month, the Mexican authorities arrested a suspected international terrorist, who turned out to be a Lebanese-born tourist.

Major operations

"We have no doubt that this is not Vicente Carrillo," said Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, the head of the federal police's organised crime unit, the Reuters news agency reported.

Mr Carrillo Fuentes is thought to be the leader of the country's largest cocaine smuggling cartel.

He is listed as one of the US' anti-drugs agency's top 10 international fugitives, with a $5m (£2.84m) reward on his head.

The Juarez cartel is the only large Mexican drug gang that has not had one of its leaders arrested during major recent operations.

The Mexican government has recently intensified its efforts to tackle drug gangs across the country:

President Vicente Fox has sent hundreds of anti-drug troops to cities along the border with the United States.

Army units have been stationed in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, where more than 70 people have been killed this year in drug-related violence, and local police have been accused of corruption and complicity with smugglers.