Top Zetas drug cartel leader Heriberto Lazcano has apparently been killed in a firefight with marines in the northern border state of Coahuila, the Mexican navy says.
If confirmed, Lazcanos death would be a huge victory for Mexican law enforcement, and mark the end of a founder of one of the worlds bloodiest cartels.
The navy said Monday there were strong indications that one of two men killed in the shootout Sunday was Lazcano, known as El Lazca. But it added that more forensics tests the body would have to be carried out to confirm the identification.
What is known is that the confrontation occurred in Juniper road to Progreso, in Coahuila, which killed two suspected members of the Los Zetas criminal organization.
During the armed conflict an element of the Marina was wounded. The federal force took the Zetas by surprise as the cartel members watched a baseball game.
The bodies of the subjects were lying inside of a Ford Ranger truck white at the height of the arc that welcomes progress.
According to eyewitnesses the armed men enjoyed a baseball game when suddenly arrived elements of the Navy of Mexico. After a Chase which sparked a shootout two subjects were killed and one sailor wounded. In the chase the Marina were fired upon with a grenade launcher.
The Zetas cartel that Lazcano helped found with other deserters from an elite army unit has carried out some of Mexicos bloodiest massacres, biggest jail breaks and fiercest attacks on authorities.
Lazcano, who is also known as El Verdugo (the Executioner) for his brutality, is suspected in hundreds of killings, including the June 2004 slaying of Francisco Ortiz Franco, a top editor of a crusading weekly newspaper in Tijuana that often reported on drug trafficking. Ortiz Franco was gunned down in front of his two young children as he left a clinic.
The United States has offered a $5 million reward and Mexico an additional $2.3 million for information leading to Lazcanos arrest.
Sources: 1, 2.
If confirmed, Lazcanos death would be a huge victory for Mexican law enforcement, and mark the end of a founder of one of the worlds bloodiest cartels.
The navy said Monday there were strong indications that one of two men killed in the shootout Sunday was Lazcano, known as El Lazca. But it added that more forensics tests the body would have to be carried out to confirm the identification.
What is known is that the confrontation occurred in Juniper road to Progreso, in Coahuila, which killed two suspected members of the Los Zetas criminal organization.
During the armed conflict an element of the Marina was wounded. The federal force took the Zetas by surprise as the cartel members watched a baseball game.
The bodies of the subjects were lying inside of a Ford Ranger truck white at the height of the arc that welcomes progress.
According to eyewitnesses the armed men enjoyed a baseball game when suddenly arrived elements of the Navy of Mexico. After a Chase which sparked a shootout two subjects were killed and one sailor wounded. In the chase the Marina were fired upon with a grenade launcher.
The Zetas cartel that Lazcano helped found with other deserters from an elite army unit has carried out some of Mexicos bloodiest massacres, biggest jail breaks and fiercest attacks on authorities.
Lazcano, who is also known as El Verdugo (the Executioner) for his brutality, is suspected in hundreds of killings, including the June 2004 slaying of Francisco Ortiz Franco, a top editor of a crusading weekly newspaper in Tijuana that often reported on drug trafficking. Ortiz Franco was gunned down in front of his two young children as he left a clinic.
The United States has offered a $5 million reward and Mexico an additional $2.3 million for information leading to Lazcanos arrest.
Sources: 1, 2.
