Mexican authorities gained a significant victory in their drug war over the weekend when Zetas cartel boss Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano was killed in a shootout with marines. Lazcano and an unidentified man died in the northern town of Progreso, which is just 130 miles from the Texas border. The drug lord’s identity was confirmed through fingerprints and pictures. Lozcano’s body was handed over to local authorities after identification, but armed men stole the remains from a funeral home on Monday. They also took the body of the unidentified man.
Sunday’s shootout began after soldiers, who were responding to reports of armed men in the area, attempted to search a vehicle. Gunmen in a passing vehicle threw grenades at them, leaving one marine with minor injuries. The marines exchanged fire with their attackers, and killed two of them. They also confiscated two assault rifles, 12 grenades, a grenade launcher, two rockets and a rocket launcher.
Lazcano, also known as "El Verdugo" (or “The Executioner”), was a former special forces soldier who founded the Zetas with other deserters. The Zetas are one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico. They are responsible for smuggling millions of dollars of cocaine into the United States each year, and they are known to carry out kidnappings, extortions and human smuggling. The United States and Mexico had offered more than $7 million combined for information leading to Lazcano’s arrest.
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