Mexican officials say a powerful drug lord who had been reported killed three years ago was actually killed early Sunday morning in a shootout with marines in western Mexico.
Nazario Moreno, a leader of a powerful criminal gang that has ravaged the western state of Michoacan, had been reported killed by the government in a firefight in December 2010.
His body was never found but the government of then-President Felipe Calderon officially declared him dead.
Since the earlier death report, his former cartel, La Familia Michoacana, morphed into the more vicious and powerful Knights Templar.
The news of Moreno's death comes on the heels of the February 22 capture of Mexico's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who surrendered peacefully after 13 years on the run.
Another top drug lord, Zetas chief Miguel Angel Trevino, was captured in the middle of last year.
Nazario Moreno, a leader of a powerful criminal gang that has ravaged the western state of Michoacan, had been reported killed by the government in a firefight in December 2010.
His body was never found but the government of then-President Felipe Calderon officially declared him dead.
Since the earlier death report, his former cartel, La Familia Michoacana, morphed into the more vicious and powerful Knights Templar.
The news of Moreno's death comes on the heels of the February 22 capture of Mexico's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who surrendered peacefully after 13 years on the run.
Another top drug lord, Zetas chief Miguel Angel Trevino, was captured in the middle of last year.
