Mexican drug lord Lopez Nunez arrested

Damaso Lopez Nunez, one of the leaders of an international drug trafficking cartel, was arrested on Tuesday in Mexico city, the country's prosecutor-general (PGR) announced Tuesday.

At a press conference, PGR's head of criminal investigation Omar Hamid said that Lopez Nunez was captured early Tuesday in a residential building in northeastern part of Mexico City.

The operation took place without any violence or guns being fired, Hamid added.

Lopez Nunez works for Sinaloa cartel -- a drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime syndicate and is believed to be a likely successor to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to head the cartel after Guzman was extradited to the U.S. in January.

Lopez Nunez is the subject of one extradition request by the U.S. for money laundering and other charges.

"We await the (U.S.) government to make a formal request," Hamid said.