MEXICO CITY – Mexican soldiers killed Luis Enrique Barragán Chávez, a Los Reyes cartel leader sought by the United States with a reward of up to $3 million, in a Michoacán shootout, the defense ministry said Tuesday.
Troops struck in Tocumbo after military intelligence work, authorities said. Gunmen opened fire; soldiers returned fire and killed Barragán and another suspected associate. Public Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Barragán, also known as “El Güicho,” “Wicho,” or “R5,” coordinated avocado-grower extortion for the Los Reyes faction of Cárteles Unidos.
Barragán faced a U.S. provisional arrest warrant for extradition and a U.S. indictment on drug conspiracy and firearms charges. The State Department had advertised the reward. García Harfuch said the operation, coming weeks after the capture of prior Los Reyes figure Alfonso Fernández Magallón, removed the group’s top leaders within a month.
Michoacán Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla said forces remain deployed across avocado municipalities near the Jalisco border. Michoacán has long seen cartel fights over drugs and farm extortion aimed at U.S.-bound produce.
Sources: Reuters via The Straits Times; UPI.
