One of the top leaders of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel was killed in a gunfight with soldiers, an official said.

Ignacio 'Nacho' Coronel, who ran the cocaine-trafficking operations of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was shot dead when he tried to evade arrest in Guadalajara city in western Jalisco state Thursday.

The raid took place in the Colinas de San Javier neighbourhood of Guadalajara, where Coronel had two houses, Army Gen. Edgar Luis Villegas said at a press conference Friday.

He had killed one soldier and wounded another before being gunned down, Villegas added. Arms, jewelry and vehicles were confiscated from the two houses.

The Mexican government had offered a $2.3-million reward for information leading to his capture, while the US had offered $5 million.

The 56-year-old allegedly ran the group's cocaine-trafficking operations in the Pacific coast states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan.

--IANS/EFE

snb