Mexico Drug Lord
Killed
A
Mexican drug lord, Arturo Beltran Leyva has been killed by the
state security forces.
Beltran, one of the most notorious drug barons and four alleged
members of his cartel were tracked down and killed in a gated
luxury residential complex in the southern city of Cuernavaca, a
weekend getaway for wealthy city dwellers.
The death of Beltran Leyva, one of the most wanted traffickers
in Mexico and the United States, is a victory for President
Felipe Calderon's drug war.
’’We started following up our intelligence on Friday. It seems
that that day he got away, but the proof of what we had is what
we have delivered to the Mexican people today,’’ Rear Admiral
Jose Luis Vergara told Mexican television.
Beltran Leyva, 58, who ran a cartel based in northwestern Mexico
bearing his family name, was an ally turned foe of Mexico's No.1
most wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, who has been on the
run since escaping from prison in 2001.
Soothing Balm
His death would be a soothing balm to the Mexican government who
has listed him as one its 24 most-wanted drug traffickers and
had offered a $2.1m reward for his capture.
Mexican anti-drug officials say Leyva laundered profits through
a professional indoor Sinaloan soccer team, luxury hotels in
Acapulco and real estate outside Mexico City.
His cartel is one of half a dozen whose turf wars have slain
more than 16,000 people since Calderon came to power in late
2006 and set the army on drug traffickers.
Reprisal
According to police report, severed heads of six policemen were
found near a church in the north of the country.
The state attorney general's office said the beheadings in
Durango State were a revenge attack by the Gulf cartel for the
killing of 10 gang members last week.
Last year, police found a weapons arsenal in a house in an
upscale district of Mexico City linked to Beltran Leyva. At
another mansion near the capital, police stormed a party where a
Colombian-led gang working for him kept two adult African lions,
two tigers and two black panthers in cages.
In the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder had announced
an indictment against Beltran Leyva and other top Mexican
smugglers for moving billions of dollars of cocaine across the
U.S. border. Washington also froze the U.S. assets of 22
individuals and 10 companies linked to the cartel.
REU/BBC/Qasim/Yinka
