Mexican top drug lord reportedly killed by troops

Mexican top drug lord reportedly killed by troops

2010-12-10 15:30:35 GMT+7 (ICT)

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- Mexican top drug lord Nazario "El Chayo" Moreno Gonzalez, the leader and founder of the powerful "La Familia Michoacana" cartel, may have died Thursday during clashes with security forces, a top official said.

The series of battles began on Wednesday night between gunmen of the "La Familia Michoacana" cartel and federal police in the central state of Michoacan, state and federal officials said.

Homeland Security spokesman, Alejandro Poire, said Thursday night at a news conference that in one of the clashes, the cartel might have lost one of its leaders but he did not provide further information.

"Unconfirmed information indicates that in their retreat, the organization has suffered significant losses, including possibly the death of one of their leaders," Poire said.

During the daily evening news program for Televisa, the TV network identified the leader killed as Moreno Gonzalez.

"This is preliminary information we have to be confirmed," Poire told the network minutes later during a telephone interview after being asked if Moreno Gonzalez was the top drug lord killed. "It is an ongoing operation," he added.

If his death is confirmed, Moreno Gonzalez will be the second top drug lord killed in the last months, after the killing on November 5 of Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, one of the leaders of the powerful Gulf Cartel, after a gunfight with the Mexican military in the northern border city of Matamoros.

The "La Familia" cartel is Mexico's main trafficker of methamphetamine.

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