President Donald Trump has all but declared open war against the drug cartels in Mexico and has demanded that the Mexican government do more to curtail the illicit activities of the criminal organizations, or else face additional trade tariffs.

Last week, the Mexican government revealed that it had arrested a particularly notorious leader of a regional faction of the Los Zetos cartel, Jorge Luis Chavez Hernandez, who is also known as "El Flaco" or "Gonzo," Breitbart reported.

Though unreported, the arrest could be part of an effort by Mexican authorities to avoid Trump's tariffs by proving that they are serious about combating the criminal cartels.

Regional cartel leader arrested by Mexican authorities

Mexican media outlet El Diario reported last week that Chavez Hernandez was taken into custody without incident in a joint operation that involved the Mexican military, intelligence service, and local law enforcement.

He is believed to be directly responsible for the murders of two Mexican Army soldiers and one police officer last year, as well as violent clashes between his faction and other cartel groups.

Per Breitbart, the midnight raid on Chavez Hernandez caught him by surprise, and he is now being held in custody until future court hearings.

The outlet noted that he is believed to have secretly lived illegally in Texas for around a year in 2017 after a falling out with Gulf Cartel leadership, though he used that time to firm up new alliances and later returned to Mexico as the leader of a faction known as the "Escorpiones."

Amid the fierce factional fighting, Chavez Hernandez rose to the top of the Most Wanted list after he allegedly killed two soldiers and one police officer, also wounding at least eight others, in an ambush attack in retaliation for the arrest of his wife on weapons charges.

Trump designates Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations

On President Trump's first day in office, he signed an executive order that formally designated several Mexican drug cartels and Central American street gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

"The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs," Trump's order stated.

"The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States. In certain portions of Mexico, they function as quasi-governmental entities, controlling nearly all aspects of society," the order continued. "The Cartels’ activities threaten the safety of the American people, the security of the United States, and the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere. Their activities, proximity to, and incursions into the physical territory of the United States pose an unacceptable national security risk to the United States."

As such, Trump declared, "It is the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures, thereby protecting the American people and the territorial integrity of the United States."

Could this be related to Trump's tariffs?

Meanwhile, in March, and after ample warnings, President Trump imposed additional tariffs on Mexico to compel that neighboring nation to do more to combat its drug cartels and their illicit drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, and violence.

Though unconfirmed, the recent arrest of Chavez Hernandez could be part of a response by the Mexican government that is intended to convince Trump that they are serious about taking on the cartels, if only to have the trade tariffs lifted.