Mexican marines may have killed the leader of the brutal Zetas drug cartel in a gun battle in northern Mexico, in what would be one of the biggest victories yet in the government’s six-year war on organised crime.
The Navy said late on Monday there was “strong evidence” Heriberto Lazcano had been killed in a firefight with marines in the northern state of Coahuila on Sunday afternoon.
If the death of Lazcano, alias “The Executioner”, is confirmed, he would be the most powerful capo to fall in President Felipe Calderon’s military offensive on the gangs.
The Zetas, considered one of the two most powerful drug gangs in Mexico, have perpetrated some of the most sickening acts seen in the country’s drug war that has killed about 60,000 people during Calderon’s term.
Two suspected Zetas gang members who attacked the marines with grenades from a moving car were killed in the gunfight and initial forensic tests suggested one of the bodies was the former soldier Lazcano, the Navy said in a statement.
Lazcano, or “Z-3”, is one of Mexico’s most-wanted men and US authorities have offered a reward of up to US$5 million for his capture. Only Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman, boss of the Sinaloa Cartel, would represent a bigger prize to the government.