( CNN ) -- The most shocking thing about the arrest of a man linked to 79 killings may be that authorities do n't find it shocking . At 20 years old , Juan Pablo Vazquez is accused of killing rivals , a policeman , a stripper and other innocent bystanders . But you wo n't find authorities in the northern economic hub of Monterrey , Mexico , using any superlatives to describe the alleged killer . Not the worst they 've ever seen , not the most ruthless , not the youngest or most prolific . That 's because Monterrey and its surroundings are an area disputed by rival drug cartels . From 2010 to the present , an average of 108 people have been killed each month in the state of Nuevo Leon , according to official statistics . Monterrey , the capital , has recorded 223 homicides so far this year . Vazquez 's arrest , then , merited a press conference , but no celebration as if an alleged serial killer had been brought down . `` We are witnessing a very severe crisis because of the war between cartels , '' one Mexican official said . Vazquez was caught on October 8 , but the arrest was not announced until Thursday . He was arrested together with a woman , Nancy Ortiz , who police said was selling drugs with Vazquez . The pair was caught with 35 baggies of weed and 22 packets of cocaine , the state 's security secretariat said . The young man confessed to 45 killings , security officials said , and has been implicated in 34 other slayings between 2011 and this year . Fear of reprisals from the warring cartels means that officials keep details to a minimum , not even revealing what gang a suspect belongs to . The Mexican official , who spoke on the condition of anonymity , told CNN that Vazquez is a member of the Gulf cartel . The Gulf cartel is fighting with the Zetas cartel for lucrative smuggling routes to the United States . The official scoffed at the idea that Vazquez was any more dangerous or deadly than other alleged cartel hit men . He described Vazquez simply as the latest member of a large cell of assassins to be caught . Vazquez was not necessarily the shooter in all the cases , but was a witness or otherwise involved in the killings , the official said . Sometimes he was just one of several shooters who aimed at their targets . Cartel members who were arrested before him fingered him in connection with the 34 killings he did not confess to , the official said . And if the thought of a 20-year-old having a hand in 79 deaths sounds like an exaggeration , authorities released a list of dates and victims ' names . Among the killings he is accused of : . -- A transit officer who pulled him over on March 13 . -- An exotic dancer who had been kidnapped from a strip club on July 30 . -- A woman who happened to be accompanying a member of a rival cartel on January 16 . -- A group of eight rivals who were at a bar on August 13 . The list goes on and on . It is just a small fraction of the number of homicides committed in Nuevo Leon , the official said .
Juan Pablo Vazquez was arrested earlier this month . Authorities link him to 79 killings in northern Mexico . His track record is n't surprising to some .