LOS ANGELES -- The man believed responsible for a massacre of 19 men woman and children in a Baja California drug battle 10 years ago was arrested while taking out his garbage at his house just east of Los Angeles, officials said Sunday.

Jesus Ruben Moncada was taken into custody Thursday night outside a small house in the L.A. suburb, and was handed over to the Mexican federal government at the Tijuana crossing Friday, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced.

The accused felon was known as a high-ranking member of the Felix Arellano gang known as"El Guerro Loco" -- the Crazy Warrior -- along the border, according to Mexican news accounts.

The Mexico City newspaper La Jornada said Moncada is being held under tight security in the "Hongo" federal prison outside Tijuana.

Moncada, 33, was surprised Thursday night outside a house on the 900 block of Woods Avenue, ICE officials said. He offered no resistance and told U.S. immigration police he had crossed into the U.S. through the San Ysidro-Tijuana crossing nearly 10 years ago, just after the bloodbath near Ensenada.

He faces first-degree murder, attempted murder and kidnapping charges in Mexico for the execution-style slaying of 19 people at a ranch outside Ensenada, allegedly part of a drug turf war. He allegedly led members of the Felix Arellano gang, seeking a rival smuggler, as they raided a compound at a ranch and led 19 children, women and men outside.

The people were slain execution-style.

Moncada's arrest and transfer to Mexican federal officials was hailed as "a major breakthrough for Mexican law enforcement" by Fernando Castillo, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Mexico City. In a statement distributed by U.S. agents in Los Angeles, Castillo said the arrest "is a direct result of of the ongoing cooperative efforts involving our office and law enforcement agencies in the United States."

The Los Angeles ICE field office chief inspector said 75 serious criminals from foreign nations have been captured in Southern California and extradited for justice in their home courts.

"This man is suspected of being involved in one of the most-heinous mass killing in recent times," said Brian M. DeMore, the chief inspector. "Our goal is not only to see justice served, but to protect law-abiding citizens on both sides of the border from this type of senseless violence."