MEXICO: Funeral for top Mexican drug cartel boss takes place

Record ID: 300999

  • Title: MEXICO: Funeral for top Mexican drug cartel boss takes place
  • Date: 5th August 2010
  • Summary: CULIACAN, SINALOA, MEXICO (AUGUST 3, 2010) (REUTERS) SOLDIERS IN VEHICLES SOLDIERS OUTSIDE CEMETERY VARIOUS OF OVERSIZED ROSE / FLOWER WREATHS BEING TAKEN INTO CEMETERY FUNERAL HEARSE ARRIVING AT FUNERAL HOME SOLDIERS ON VEHICLE VARIOUS OF MILITARY CONVOY
  • Embargoed: 20th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Obituaries
  • Reuters ID: LVAXWFYSM3L0WDSDDTSC9CXJ3EF
  • Story Text: The body of Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, one of Mexico's top drug traffickers, was finally buried at a cemetery in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan on Tuesday (August 03) amid tight military security.
    Coronel was a top lieutenant to Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, the most wanted man in Mexico and the leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, which controls major drug smuggling routes along the Pacific into the United States. He was killed on July 29 in a raid in the western city of Guadalajara, when over 100 soldiers burst in on Coronel and shot him as he tried to escape.
    The body of Coronel's nephew and his potential successor, Mario Carrasco Coronel, who was also killed by the army last week in a separate incident and in a similar operation following "Nacho" Coronel's death in Guadalajara, was also buried in Culiacan.
    Oversized wreaths were carried into the cemetery where Coronel's relatives had gathered for the funeral. As the bodies arrived at the cemetery a northern "grupero" band played.
    Men were finally seen carrying the coffin out from the hearse for burial as weeping relatives stood next to the coffin.
    Mexican authorities have touted the killing of Coronel as a major victory in Mexico's President Felipe Calderon's war against cartels.
    More than 26,000 people have died in drug violence since Calderon launched his drug war in late 2006. The bloodshed has become a growing worry for the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, global investors and foreign tourists.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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