- Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo is an alleged Zetas cartel leader
- Authorities detained him last week and presented him to reporters Monday
- He is suspected in the 2010 Falcon Lake killing of David Hartley
- Authorities have not said why or how they believe he was involved in the slaying
(CNN) -- Mexican authorities have detained a Zetas drug cartel leader suspected in the 2010 Falcon Lake killing of American David Hartley, in addition to other slayings and prison breaks in northern Mexico, a spokesman for Mexico's Navy said Monday.
Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo was detained last week and presented to the media Monday.
He is accused of being the regional leader of the Zetas in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila.
Read more: Another Zetas leader captured
Martinez, known as "The Squirrel," is also suspected of being behind of the 2010 massacre of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas, Mexico's Navy said in a written statement.
The statement also said he was suspected to be responsible for graves found with more than 200 bodies in that state, "and the execution of more than 50 people by his own hands in different parts of the country."
Mexico's Navy did not provide details about exactly why or how authorities believe Martinez is connected to Hartley's killing on the lake, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border.
Hartley's wife, Tiffany, has told police that she and her husband were on a Sea-Doo personal watercraft on the lake on September 30, 2010, to visit a half-submerged church, when they were ambushed by assailants who shot David Hartley in the head.
She said she was unable to haul his body onto her watercraft before being forced to flee.
Read more: Widow sues for information on Falcon Lake killing
