The Mexican navy says it has detained a son of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin Guzman, known as 'el Chapo', the country's most-wanted drug lord.

"Following an intelligence operation, Jesus Alfredo Guzman, the presumed son of Joaquin Guzman, was arrested this morning," a written statement said.

The man arrested, suspected of links to drug trafficking, was transferred to Mexico City under the watch of a heavy presence from security forces, a navy source said.

The elder Guzman, the billionaire head of the Sinaloa cartel, has a $5m reward on his head in the United States and has long sparred with US and Mexican authorities.

Jesus Alfredo Guzman and his wife Alejandrina Salazar were placed on a US list of Sinaloa cartel operatives last year.

In May, the US Treasury Department froze the assets of the fugitive druglord's sons Ivan and Ovidio, barring Americans from doing business with them.

The department said the sons had played "a significant role" in drug trafficking activities.

Thursday's arrest comes just a little over a week before Mexicans head to the polls to vote for a new president.

President Felipe Calderon's ruling National Action Party has lost popular support in the wake of brutal drug violence that has killed more than 50,000 people since December 2006.

Calderon's government has been criticised in the past for not doing enough to weaken the Sinaloa cartel.