Mexico kills top drug lord at U.S. border

Awesome,

Dodging grenades and coming under heavy fire from gunmen hidden in houses and shooting from trucks, the marines moved in on Cardenas, one of Mexico's most-wanted traffickers, and killed him on Friday afternoon, the navy said.

Mexico Has a Navy?


(Reuters) - Mexican marines killed drug baron Ezequiel "Tony Tormenta" Cardenas in a ferocious gunfight at the U.S. border on Friday, a fleeting victory for President Felipe Calderon that is unlikely to quell raging violence.

Around 150 marines backed by helicopters and soldiers fought running battles with members of the powerful Gulf cartel for hours in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, terrifying residents and briefly shutting border bridges.

Dodging grenades and coming under heavy fire from gunmen hidden in houses and shooting from trucks, the marines moved in on Cardenas, one of Mexico's most-wanted traffickers, and killed him on Friday afternoon, the navy said.

"He died in a shootout with us," a navy spokesman said.

Three marines and four gunmen were killed, the navy said. A reporter was killed after being caught in crossfire, local media reported.