Trevino Morales arrest: Captured Mexican drug lord linked to hundreds of brutal killings files for court protection in case HE is tortured in prison Trevino Morales, known as 'Z-40' was caught in Nuevo Laredo on Monday The boss of a notorious drugs cartel who was arrested by police in Mexico on Monday has filed for legal protection amid claims that he could be at risk of torture. Head of the Zetas cartel, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, who is also known as Z-40, is known for 'stewing' his enemies alive in burning oil barrels and having ordered the regular beheadings, hangings and massacres of rivals. But he has called for protection claiming that he is at risk of harm during his detention as he is held accused of torture and murder. Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, aka El Z 40 is paraded in front of the cameras following his arrest on Monday Sources say that a judge is likely to reject his claim in the coming days with there said to be no grounds for his complaint. Since he was arrested in a pre-daw operation in northeastern Mexico on Monday, Trevino Morales has filed four complaints for 'the possible practices of torture, isolation and mistreatment that may have taken place or may take place,' according to Yahoo News. If Trevino Morales's claims were upheld by a judge, there is no chance that it would lead to his release. The arrest of Trevino Morales at dawn on Monday without a shot being fired was seen as a coup for Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto. Trevino Morales, 40, was seized on a dirt road outside Nuevo Laredo, a Zetas stronghold in the north of the country near the US border. He is said to have fled into heavy brush and fallen at least once scratching his face in a failed attempt to escape capture, according to a Mexican federal government official. The official, who spoke today on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the case, said the scrapes didn't result from mistreatment by the marines who apprehended him. Ruthless: Trevino Morales, left, as a younger man, is believed to have masterminded the massacre in 2010 after which the killers piled the bodies on top of each other and left them to rot, right He said two men travelling with the purported leader of the brutal Zetas cartel dropped to the ground when a navy helicopter positioned itself in front of their truck. But Morales tried to run off into the brush on the side of the dirt road, but was caught, he said. Authorities said they found eight rifles in the truck, but not a single shot was fired. Although Trevino Morales is wanted in the United States on drug-trafficking charges, Mexican federal security spokesman Eduardo Sanchez said that he will first face trial in Mexico on multiple charges including torture, organised crime, murder, money laundering and possession of weapons. He added that as far as he knew, the US has not yet made any formal extradition request. Trevino Morales's arrest has been greeted as a possible turning point in the war against drugs cartels in Mexico. Samuel Gonzalez, former top anti-drug prosecutor, said: 'I think this capture is very important, and could make the difference. These people (the Zetas) are the ones who invented the whole process of violence, of decapitations, of hanging people from bridges. 'If, despite all that, you see one of their most violent leaders arrested, it means that even despite those methods, they're being brought to justice.' He added that unless a clear replacement leader emerges for the cartel, that police would be able to handle groups on a local level. One technique favoured by Trevino Morales was the "guiso," or stew, in which enemies would be placed in 55-gallon oil drums and burned alive. According to the indictments, Trevino Morales co-ordinated the shipment of hundreds of pounds of cocaine and marijuana each week from Mexico to the US, much of which had passed through Guatemala. Trevino Morales is also suspected of laundering millions of pounds through US businesses, including a thoroughbred horseracing operation allegedly run by a brother. He reportedly enjoyed pointing randomly at people from his car and ordering his men to kill them. Following their arrest, Trevino Morales and his henchmen were flown to Mexico City, where they are expected to be tried in a closed system that usually takes years to prosecute cases.