SOLDIERS killed a top leader of the Sinaloa cartel in a raid on his posh hideout, dealing the biggest blow yet to Mexico’s most powerful drug gang since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against organised crime in 2006.

One of the top three leaders of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel died in a gunfight with soldiers, ending the long run of a mysterious capo considered a founder of the country’s massive methamphetamine trade.