Mexico City ( CNN ) -- A suspected leader of the Juarez drug cartel told authorities he had ordered the deaths of about 1,500 people , a Mexican federal police official said Sunday . Federal police detailed accusations against Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez , known as `` El Diego , '' a day after authorities announced his capture . He was one of the country 's most wanted criminals , with officials offering a reward of 15 million pesos ( $ 1.3 million ) for his arrest . Collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led to Acosta 's detention , said Eduardo Pequeno , head of the Mexican federal police anti-drug unit . Acosta is accused of being a leader of the drug gang known as La Linea , the enforcement arm of the Juarez cartel , Mexican authorities have said . Pequeno told reporters that Acosta `` said he ordered the killings of about 1,500 people , mostly in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua 's capital . '' An investigation points to Acosta as the mastermind behind the March 2010 killing of three people connected with the U.S. Consulate in Juarez , Pequeno said . More recently , Acosta ordered operatives to hang banners with threatening messages directed at the DEA and other U.S. authorities , Pequeno said . Juarez , Mexico 's most violent city , shares a border with El Paso , Texas . Pequeno also accused Acosta of having connections with some of the border city 's most notorious violence over the past two years , including the 2010 killing of a state prosecutor , a car bombing outside a police station and a massacre at a house party that killed 15 people -- most of them students with no ties to organized crime . Acosta told authorities the targets of his criminal organization included police , government officials , rival drug gangs and civilians , Pequeno told reporters . Earlier this month , the U.S. consulate in Juarez issued a statement warning `` American citizens to remain vigilant '' based on information it had received that cartels may target the consulate or entry points on the U.S.-Mexico border . The northwestern Mexican state of Chihuahua , which contains the namesake capital city as well as Juarez , has been a hotbed for drug-related violence . The federal government has been targeting cartels ' operations , and especially its leaders , in an ongoing battle . Mexican authorities have arrested several others they accuse of being connected to the slayings of three people connected with the consulate last year . The shootings occurred March 13 , 2010 , when consulate employee Lesley Enriquez and her husband , Arthur Redelfs , were gunned down as they left a birthday party in their white SUV . Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros , the husband of another consulate employee , was killed in a separate vehicle .
Police : José Antonio García Hernandez says he targeted police , officials , rivals . Acosta has been a reputed top leader in La Linea , the armed branch of the Juarez drug cartel . Mexican police say they worked with the DEA to capture him . Federal police linked him to some of the most notorious violence in Juarez .