This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/8417531.stm

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Mexico police severed heads found 'Boss of bosses' killed in Mexico
(about 8 hours later)
Suspected drug gangs have dumped the severed heads of six police officers outside a church in the northern Mexican state of Durango, police said. One of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords has been killed in a shoot-out with state security forces, officials say.
They said the beheadings were a revenge attack by the Gulf cartel for the killing of 10 gang members last week. Arturo Beltran Leyva and four alleged members of his cartel died in a raid by troops on a flat in Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City.
More than 14,000 people have died in drugs-related violence since 2006, some 60 in the past three days alone. The Beltran Leyva cartel, based on the Pacific coast, is one of Mexico's most powerful and violent drug gangs .
President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of troops across the country in an effort to crush the cartels. Meanwhile, the severed heads of six policemen were found near a church in the north of the country, police said.
The severed heads were left in plastic bags near the church in Durango state before dawn. They said the beheadings in Durango state were a revenge attack by the Gulf cartel for the killing of 10 gang members last week.
They were discovered by garbage collectors, the state attorney general's office said. The severed heads, left in plastic bags outside the church before dawn, were discovered by garbage collectors, the state attorney general's office said.
On Tuesday, gang members killed at least 12 people in Tijuana, across from San Diego, decapitating four of the victims - a hallmark of Mexico's brutal drug gang violence. 'Boss of bosses'
The Obama administration delivered five helicopters to Mexico on Wednesday to help it in its fight against drug cartels, which are battling for control over lucrative smuggling routes into the US. Arturo Beltran Leyva, known as the "boss of bosses", was one of four brothers who split from the Sinaloa cartel and aligned themselves with Los Zetas, a group of former soldiers hired by the Gulf Cartel as hit men.
More than 200 soldiers were involved in the operation
The split is believed to have fuelled much of the bloodshed across Mexico, where more than 14,000 people have died in drugs-related violence since 2006.
The Mexican government listed Beltran Leyva as one its 24 most-wanted drug traffickers and had offered a $2.1m (£ 1.3m) reward for his capture.
A Navy statement described the gun battle in which Beltran Leyva was killed as "intense". It involved at least 200 members of Mexico's armed forces.
Reports said three soldiers were injured by grenade fragments during the operation in Cuernavaca, a city of 350,000 that is a popular weekend retreat spot.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene described hearing at least 10 explosions.
During the gunbattle, sailors went door to door to evacuate residents of the upmarket residential complex, AP reported.
Drug gangs 'weakening'
Mexico's authorities are battling a wave of violence by drug gangs fighting over smuggling routes to the US.
The Obama administration delivered five helicopters to Mexico on Wednesday to help it in its fight.
Washington says the rising death toll is a sign the drug gangs are weakening under President Calderon's military crackdown, which has seen some 49,000 extra troops deploy across Mexico.Washington says the rising death toll is a sign the drug gangs are weakening under President Calderon's military crackdown, which has seen some 49,000 extra troops deploy across Mexico.
But Mexicans are angry at the army's inability to stop the violence and have called for a withdrawal in some cities, Reuters news agency reports.