Alfredo Beltran is a high-ranking commander in the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels. Beltran was arrested in Culiacan, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, in January, 2008.

While Beltran is one of the top commanders in the Sinaloa Cartel, the cartel is headed by Joaquin Guzman, who goes by the nickname "El Chapo" or "Shorty." Guzman escaped from a Mexican federal prison in 2001 in the back of a laundry truck and has been a fugitive ever since. The Sinaloa Cartel's main rivals are the Gulf Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, and the Tijuana Cartel. The cartels battle over "plazas," a slang term that refers to the major entry points for narcotics into the United States. Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo are two such "plazas." PINR: Mexico's Internal Drug War (August 14, 2006)

• Austin American-Statesman: The Narco-Corrido of Alfredo Beltran Leyva (January 22, 2008)