Golden Sun eXtra Your Local News Source, Mohave County, AZ

Mexican troops have killed one of the country’s most-wanted drug traffickers in a shootout in the western city of Guadalajara, ending the run of a man known as the “King of Ice” for his multimillion-dollar amphetamine business.

Mexican soldiers killed drug boss Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel on Thursday, the first major triumph this year for President Felipe Calderon’s war against drug cartels but one that is unlikely to end spiralling violence.

The Mexican army shot Coronel, a senior member of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, as he exchanged fire with soldiers during a raid of a wealthy residential area in Guadalajara in western Mexico, officials said.

Coronel, 56, was indicted in a Texas court for allegedly smuggling tons of narcotics into the United States and Europe since the early 1990s. The United States had offered up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.

Troops backed by military helicopters swarmed normally quiet streets in the upscale residential area of Zapopan in search of Coronel, who the army said led a low-profile life moving between two luxury houses in the area.

Drug trade experts cautioned that the Sinaloa cartel is a sophisticated, highly organized operation and was likely to bounce back quickly. This will have a temporary impact on the methamphetamine market but someone else is going to take his place.

More than 26,000 people have died in drug violence across Mexico over the past 3-1/2 years, in a growing worry for the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

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