The Mexican government confirmed Tuesday that its forces killed Heriberto Lazcano, the leader of the Zetas Cartel, in a shootout Sunday.
Mexican marines killed Lazcano (known as "the Executioner") in a small town in northern Mexico about 130 miles from the Texas border.
On Monday, armed men stormed the funeral home and stole Lazcano's body, which had been identified by Mexican officials, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Lazcano was a onetime special forces soldier who became one of the founding members of the Zetas, a group accused of some of the most violent atrocities that have come to define the drug wars.
In August, Lazcano had reportedly lost control of the cartel to Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, a brutal assassin who favors getting rid of foes by stuffing them into oil drums, dousing them with gasoline, and setting them on fire—a practice known as a "guiso," a Spanish word for "stew," reports the Associated Press.
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