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Mexican police on Tuesday arrested a woman on suspicion of overseeing a network of spies that tracked police for a powerful drug cartel in central Mexico, officials said.

Veronica Trevino managed an armed criminal cell known as the Falcons whose job it was to monitor the movements of state and federal police and inform Gulf Cartel traffickers of their whereabouts, police told Reuters.

It was the latest big arrest by President Felipe Calderon's government, which has waged an offensive on drug traffickers by deploying thousands of soldiers to hot spots around Mexico.

Trevino was arrested with Ruben Diaz, thought to be the Falcons' second-in-command, in the small Mexican state of Aguascalientes. They were found with a gun, five cell phones and sophisticated radio equipment, police said.

Trevino also had with her a list of other Falcon members and their expenses, complete with restaurant and bar receipts.

The Falcons work under the armed enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel, made up of former army officers known as Zetas. They are part of an intricate network of lookouts ranging from taxi drivers to street kids who keep tabs on authorities and rival gangs.

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