Mexico City, Apr 1 (EFE).- One of the top leaders of Mexico's Caballeros Templarios drug cartel died in a shootout with the security forces, an official told Efe.
Enrique Plancarte Solis was killed in a gunfight Monday in the central state of Queretaro, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The identity of Enrique Plancarte, presumably killed in a shootout with the Navy Secretariat, is being verified," the Government Secretariat said in a Twitter post.
Marines participating in an anti-drug operation were involved in the shootout, media reports said.
Authorities were offering a reward of 10 million pesos ($765,697) for information leading to Plancarte's arrest.
A reward of 30 million pesos ($2.29 million) is being offered for the cartel's top boss, Servando Gomez Martinez.
Plancarte Solis, known as "Kike" and "La Chiva," was considered the cartel's No. 2 leader following the Jan. 27 arrest of Dionicio Loya Plancarte.
Plancarte Solis's death is the latest blow to the cartel, which lost another top leader, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, in a shootout with the security forces on March 9 in the western state of Michoacan, where the criminal organization has extensive operations.
Residents of Nueva Italia, a city in the Tierra Caliente region, said Plancarte Solis did not have a large security detail because he spent most of his time hiding out at ranches with Moreno Gonzalez.
Enrique Plancarte Solis was a nephew of Manuel Plancarte Gaspar, who was arrested on March 17 in Michoacan and faces kidnapping and organ trafficking charges, officials said.
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.
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.
Civilians began arming themselves last year to fight the gang, which operates across Michoacan.
