MEXICO CITY, April 28 -- Mexican authorities announced on Monday the capture of two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and his potential successor.

Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera died in February after being wounded in a shoot-out with Mexican soldiers in the western state of Jalisco, unleashing a wave of highway blockades and shootouts with security forces that left over 70 people dead.

Audias Flores Silva was El Mencho's "right-hand man" until the latter's death, security analyst David Saucedo told AFP.

He had been charged with forging an alliance between the CJNG and the "Chapitos," the faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the family of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Sa...