( CNN ) -- A top Zetas drug cartel leader -- who allegedly ordered the attack and arson at a casino that killed 52 -- has been captured , Mexican defense officials said Thursday . Carlos Oliva Castillo , alias `` La rana , '' or frog , was arrested Wednesday at a safehouse without a single shot being fired , the country 's Ministry of Defense said . Possibly the No . 3 man in the criminal organization , Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw criminal operations for the cartel in three Mexican states . He was captured in Saltillo , Mexico . Though he was arrested without incident , the cartel tried to distract troops by attacking security forces in different parts of the city , the defense ministry said . The Zetas ' rescue ploy failed . According to officials , Oliva Castillo was `` the principal manager '' of the ruthless Zetas in the states of Coahuila , Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas . He was also described as a confidant of Zetas boss Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano . Oliva Castilo began working for the Zetas in 2005 in Tamaulipas , the defense ministry said , and rose through the ranks quickly . By 2009 he was in charge of the cartel 's finances in Nuevo Leon , before taking charge of all operations in that state , the ministry said . This year he assumed a wider role , the ministry said . The three northeastern states that Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw are some of the Zetas ' strongest-held territory . Authorities say that much of the violence registered in these states is the result of the Zetas fighting rival groups such as the Gulf cartel and Sinaloa cartel , for access to lucrative smuggling routes . But the Zetas -- especially in their strongholds -- have branched out from drug trafficking and into extortion of businesses , kidnappings , and human smuggling . The deadly attack that Oliva Castillo is accused of ordering is the casino arson in the city of Monterrey where 52 people died . Officials allege that the attack happened because the casino owners did not comply with payments to the cartel . Last year , the bodies of 72 migrants from Central and South America were discovered at a ranch in San Fernando , located in Tamaulipas state . The Zetas have been blamed for the mass graves and for the deaths of the migrants .
First , it arrested Zetas regional boss Carlos del Valle . He was as high as third in the group . Cartel members tried to rescue him from authorities .