Mexican security forces tracked down and killed on December 16 drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva, one of the most wanted traffickers in Mexico and the United States, in a victory for President Felipe Calderon's drug war.
Beltran Leyva, a cartel chief dubbed "The Boss of Bosses," was shot dead on Wednesday evening by Navy forces in a gated luxury residential complex in the southern city of Cuernavaca, a weekend getaway for wealthy city dwellers.
The strike, five days after Beltran Leyva escaped another army operation targeting him, is a major coup for Calderon at the end of a year when drug gang violence has exploded to unprecedented levels and cartel arrests have been flagging.
Navy forces arrived by helicopter and television images showed them surrounding the residence in the dark amid the sound of gunshots and grenades. Security forces laid spikes on the road to stop anyone escaping by car, the Reuters said.
Six bodyguards died with Beltran Leyva, one of whom shot himself rather than be taken and interrogated. One of the six was his brother Mario, Mexican media said.