MEXICO: Army kills top drug trafficker Ignacio Coronel

Record ID: 300552

  • Title: MEXICO: Army kills top drug trafficker Ignacio Coronel
  • Date: 31st July 2010
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JULY 29, 2010) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) EDGAR VILLEGAS, A SENIOR ARMY OFFICIAL, WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) EDGAR VILLEGAS, A SENIOR ARMY OFFICIAL, SAYING: "On this day in Guadalajara City, Jalisco, a precision operation was carried out to arrest Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, also known as Nacho Corone
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Reuters ID: LVA5AFL8BYNPHG5QGVXKG7OTKKE0
  • Story Text: Mexican soldiers shot and killed drug boss Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel on Thursday (July 29), the first major triumph this year for President Felipe Calderon's war against defiant drug cartels.
    The Mexican army killed Coronel, a senior member of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, as he exchanged fire with soldiers during a raid of a wealthy area near Guadalajara in western Mexico, officials said.
    "On this day in Guadalajara City, Jalisco, a precision operation was carried out to arrest Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, also known as Nacho Coronel one of the main leaders of the drug trafficking organization Cartel de Sinaloa, he led, together with Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo Guzman and Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as El Mayo Zambada. During this operation, Nacho Coronel tried to escape attacking military personnel with firearms, causing the death of a soldier and wounding another... Dying as fire was returned," Edgar Villegas, a senior army official, said during a news conference in Mexico City.
    Coronel, who was known as the "King of Ice" for his multimillion-dollar methamphetamine business, and was a top lieutenant of Sinaloa leader Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, Mexico's most wanted man, had been indicted in the United States.
    He was wanted in a Texas court for allegedly smuggling tonnes of narcotics into the United States and Europe since the early 1990s. The United States has offered up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.
    "Nacho Coronel led criminal criminal activities for his organization in the west of the Republic, which includes the states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and parts of Michoacan, controlling the smuggling of cocaine through the so-called Pacific route. The US state department had offered up to $5 million for information leading to his capture. Preliminary results report that during the operation weapons, cash, jewels, vehicles and property was seized, which are being counted to send to the corresponding authorities," added Villegas.
    TV images showed military helicopters flying over normally quiet streets in the upscale residential area of Zapopan as soldiers swarmed the area in search of the capo.
    The killing may provide a boost for Calderon, who has staked his presidency on winning the military campaign he launched against drug gangs in late 2006.
    The conservative leader's image has been stained by spiraling violence across the country, and critics note that drug bosses operate with virtual impunity.
    But drug trade experts cautioned that the Sinaloa cartel, like other drug cartels a sophisticated, highly organized operation, was likely to bounce back quickly.
    More than 26,000 people have died in drug violence across Mexico over the past 3-1/2 years, making cartel activity in Mexico a growing worry for the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, some global investors and foreign tourists.
    Mexican security forces shot dead top drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva in December in Calderon's biggest blow to date in his war on drugs.
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