12 alleged drug smugglers killed in Mexico

12 alleged members of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel were killed on Thursday night by Mexican soldiers in two shootouts in the city of Tepic in the western state of Nayarit.

A statement by Mexico's Ministry of the Navy and Army on Friday said that the cartel's lieutenant Juan Francisco Patron Sanchez, also known as H2, was killed.

The ministry said that a joint air and land operation began after gunman opened fire on soldiers, leading Patron Sanchez to be killed by Navy troops backed by a helicopter in Tepic's neighborhood of Lindavista. Seven other members of the gang were also killed.

The ministry also explained that Patron Sanchez was known as being the head of the Beltran Leyva cartel in Nayarit and the neighboring state of Sinaloa.

The second shootout came near Tepic's airport when federal troops again responded to an attack by the cartel. The statement said that four gang members died in the shootout, while no soldiers were injured.

The Beltran Leyva cartel arose in the 1990s, mainly dealing cocaine from South America into the U.S., in alliance with the Sinaloa cartel of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The two cartels broke their alliance in 2008, leading to a bloody rivalry between them.

Also on Thursday, El Chapo's former sister-in-law, Idalia Romelia Salazar, was shot dead by unknown assailants in the western state of Jalisco.

source: Xinhua