5 Die in shootout between vigilantes and gunmen in western Mexico

Ten gunmen were detained following the shootout Sunday in Chuquiapan, a town near the port city of Lazaro Cardenas, the El Universal newspaper reported on its Web site, citing spokesmen for the community self-defense groups.

Vigilantes were attacked by armed individuals posing as members of a community self-defense group, setting off a 25-minute shootout, the spokesmen told the newspaper.

Four people were pronounced dead at the scene and a fifth person died while being transported to a hospital.

The federal government took control of Lazaro Cardenas, one of Mexico's largest Pacific ports, in response to allegations that port officials were on the payroll of drug traffickers.

The shootout in Chuquiapan occurred ahead of the start of the disarmament of the self-defense groups formed in Michoacan last year to fight the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel amid inaction by state officials.

The federal government deployed soldiers and police in Michoacan on Jan. 13 in an effort to end the wave of drug-related violence in the state.

Federal security forces killed the Caballeros Templarios cartel's two top leaders, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez and Enrique Plancarte Solis, in February and March, respectively.

Moreno and other members of the Familia Michoacana gang formed the Caballeros Templarios organization after he was reported killed by the government in 2010.

The Caballeros Templarios cartel, which deals in both synthetic and natural drugs, commits murders, stages kidnappings and runs extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan.

The cartel uses Michoacan's 270 kilometers (168 miles) of coastline to smuggle chemical drug precursors for the production of synthetic drugs into Mexico.