Soldiers kill key Mexican drug lord

MEXICO CITY -- One of the top three leaders of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel died in a gunfight with soldiers Thursday, ending the long run of a mysterious capo considered a founder of the country's massive methamphetamine trade.

The death of Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel near the city of Guadalajara is the biggest strike yet against the Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman -- Mexico's top drug lord -- since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug traffickers in late 2006.

According to the FBI, which offered a $5 million reward for the 56-year-old Coronel, he was thought to be "the forerunner in producing massive amounts of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in Mexico, then smuggling it into the U.S."

Gen. Edgar Luis Villegas said an army raid was closing in one of Coronel's safehouses in an upscale suburb of the western city of Guadalajara, when the drug lord opened fire on soldiers.

"Nacho Coronel tried to escape, and fired on military personnel, killing one soldier and wounding another," Villegas said at a news conference in Mexico City. "Responding to the attack, this 'capo' died."

Villegas said the raid "significantly affects the operational capacity and drug distribution of the organization run by Guzman."

Coronel's downfall came amid persistent allegations that Calderon's administration appeared to be favoring the Sinaloa cartel, or not hitting it as hard as other drug gangs.

Those allegations have drawn angry denials from the president and his top law enforcement officials, who point to the 2009 arrest of Vicente "El Vicentillo" Zambada -- the son of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Sinaloa's No. 2 leader -- as proof they were going after the gang. Guzman, Zambada and Coronel formed a triumvirate that ran Mexico's largest drug trafficking cartel.

Coronel's death is the biggest blow against Mexico's drug gangs since drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva and six of his bodyguards were killed in a Dec. 16 raid by Mexican marines in the central city of Cuernavaca.

An FBI statement on Coronel's drug trafficking organization said that "the scope of its influence and operations penetrate throughout the United States, Mexico, and several other European, Central American, and South American countries."

During Thursday's raid, helicopters circled over the Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan, as soldiers appeared to search at least two homes. Soldiers arrested Francisco Quinonez Gastelum, alleged to be Coronel's right-hand man and the only associate allowed to accompany him to his mansion.

Coronel is one of Mexico's most mysterious drug lords.

On its web page of most wanted drug traffickers, the Mexican federal attorney general's has three photographs of Coronel and gives his nickname, "Nacho." There are only blanks after "age," "place of origin," and "personal characteristics."

Also Thursday, the U.S. Consulate in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez announced that it temporarily will close pending a review of its security protocols.

The U.S. Embassy said the consulate will "remain closed until the security review is completed."

The statement Thursday did not say what prompted the review.