Mexican federal police say they have captured a U.S.-born man tied to Mexico's Arellano Felix drug cartel, also known as the Tijuana cartel.

Officials say 33-year-old Armando Villarreal Heredia, known as “El Gordo” , was taken into custody Saturday in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state. Authorities have accused the San Diego native of trafficking drugs from Mexico's northern state of Sinaloa into the United States. The U.S. also wants him on federal conspiracy and racketeering charges.

Investigators have linked him to Fernando Sanchez Arellano, a leader in the cartel, which has been weakened in recent years. Sanchez is a nephew of the Arellano Felix brothers for whom the cartel is named. Many of the brothers have either been arrested or killed.

They include Benjamin Arellano Felix, who was extradited to the U.S. earlier this year on drug and other charges. He is one of the highest-profile cartel members extradited under the administration of Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Authorities say Arellano Felix led the Tijuana cartel with some of his brothers from the 1980s until his arrest in Mexico in 2002.

Charges against him include conspiracy, money laundering, drug trafficking and organized crime.

More than 37,000 people have been killed in Mexico's drug-related violence since President Calderon took power in late 2006 and began cracking down on the cartels.