Two Mexican marines have been shot dead during their hunt for the fugitive drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman in the notorious Sinaloa state this week.
They were on patrol in El Ebano village on Monday night when they were attacked by by suspected members of organised crime.
One marine and the attacker were killed in the firefight and the other one died of his injuries hours later in hospital.
Marines seized the vehicle, a gun, ammunition and 50 ‘doses’ of crystal meth after the shooting.
The attacker in El Ebano was named as ex-convict Jose Maria Penuelas Rubio by Secretary of the Marines, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.
It was the second clash between marines and suspected gang members in the region in less than a week.
Two suspects were killed in a gun fight with troops in Guzman’s home town of Badiraguato last Friday.
Hundreds of people in the region are said to have fled their homes to escape the military operations, which have included house to house searches.
Read More: Two marines gunned down hunting for Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán
