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Mexican soldiers detain an unidentified man during the shooting of Arturo Beltran Leyva in this photo from a video phone - Source: Reuters -
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Mexican security forces have killed drug lord Arturo Beltran
Leyva, one of the most wanted traffickers in both Mexico and the
United States, in a victory for President Felipe Calderon's war on
drug cartels.
Beltran Leyva, a drug lord dubbed The Boss of Bosses, was killed on
Thursday by Navy forces in a luxury residential complex in the
southern city of Cuernavaca.
"We confirm the death of Arturo Beltran Leyva. He was killed in a
Navy operation in Cuernavaca," said a Navy captain who declined to
be named.
Six bodyguards died together with Beltran Leyva, who ran a cartel
that carried his family name. He was an ally turned foe of Mexico's
No.1 most wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.
More than 16,000 people have been killed in drug violence in the
last three years as rival gangs have fought each other and security
forces. Atrocities have become common.
Suspected drug gangs
dumped the severed heads of five police officers
and a prosecutor outside a church in the northern state of Durango
on Thursday.
The heads were left in plastic bags discovered by trash collectors
as blood ran out of the bags onto the street.
The death of Beltran Leyva is a boost for Calderon, who launched a
war against the cartels after coming into office in 2006. Navy
forces have increasingly joined army troops and federal police in
the fight.
Victory for Calderon
"This is a victory for Calderon in the short term, but his
position will be filled very quickly," Alberto Islas, a security
analyst, said of Beltran Leyva.
He predicted more violence as rival drug gangs try to take back
territory lost to the Beltran Leyvas in recent years in southern
Mexico and Mexico City.
The Beltran Leyva brothers were engaged in a gruesome fight over
smuggling routes into the United States with one-time ally and now
arch-enemy Shorty Guzman.
US Attorney General Eric Holder in August announced an indictment
against Arturo Beltran Leyva and other top Mexican smugglers for
moving billions of dollars of cocaine across the US border.
Beltran Leyva was wanted in Mexico for organized crime activities
and kidnapping. He had a $3.7 million price on his head in
Mexico.
The Treasury Department said last week the United States had
frozen the US assets of 22 individuals and 10 companies linked to
the Beltran Leyvas.
