Guatemala arrests senior Mexican drug hitman

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala said on Tuesday it had captured a senior member of Mexico's powerful Gulf drug cartel, the latest sign that Mexican gangs are seeking control of Central American smuggling routes.

Daniel Perez, know as "Cheeks" and who is wanted in the United States, is believed to be the second in command of the Gulf cartel's vicious armed wing, the Zetas, who are fighting a gruesome turf war in Mexico with rival cartels.

Guatemala's interior ministry said Perez, a former elite Mexican soldier who helped found the Zetas in the late 1990s, was arrested last week in Guatemala City, accused of involvement in a shootout in March in southern Guatemala in which 11 people were killed.

The ministry said it called on the Mexican attorney general's office to identify Perez, who according to local media was posing as a Guatemalan car salesman.

Perez's arrest follows the seizure last week of over a ton of cocaine in Guatemala attributed to the Gulf cartel.

Guatemalan officials believe Mexican cartels are trying to crush local cartels to control smuggling routes through Central America into Mexico. Drug-trade analysts say Mexican military operations on the U.S.-Mexico border may be forcing drug kingpins to seek to hide out in Central America.

"Perez's presence in Guatemala also sets a precedent of Mexican cartel leaders fleeing south and not north to the United States, as has been the case with other Gulf cartel members," security consultancy Stratfor said in a report.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)