[Melissa Block:] From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
[Robert Siegel:] And I'm Robert Siegel. In the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, 500 soldiers have been deployed to surround a morgue. It's where the body of one of the most wanted drug kingpins was taken. Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a fire fight late yesterday with the Mexican military. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports from Mexico City.
[Jason Beaubien:] Two hundred soldiers from the Mexican Navy surrounded a luxury condominium complex in Cuernavaca where Arturo Beltran Leyva was reported to be staying. In images captured on local television, soldiers and Beltran Leyva's gunmen exchanged automatic weapons fire for more than two hours. The cornered drug cartel members even launched grenades at the military and two helicopters that hovered overhead. Beltran Leyva known, as the boss of bosses, died in the gun battle along with six of his body guards.
[President Felipe Calderon:] [Foreign language spoken]
[Jason Beaubien:] President Felipe Calderon speaking from the climate conference in Copenhagen hailed the operation as a forceful blow against the Mexican drug cartels. Arturo Beltran Leyva ran what's known as the Beltran Leyva Brothers organization. Arturo was one of the three most wanted men in Mexico. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in an indictment in September accused the Beltran Leyva cartel of moving tons of cocaine and heroin into the United States. Mexican authorities had been in hot pursuit of the boss of bosses. Last week according to prosecutors, Beltran Leyva threw a narco pasada or a narco Christmas party in Cuernavaca. Soldiers and police stormed the party, but Beltran Leyva escaped. Authorities are still holding 26 musicians and 20 alleged prostitutes from that party accusing them of having ties to organized crime.
[President Felipe Calderon:] [Foreign language spoken]
[Jason Beaubien:] As demonstrated in this case, President Calderon said, intelligence is a powerful and effective weapon in the fight against organized crime. And for Calderon this was a much needed victory in this battle. Since Calderon launch his offensive in December of 2006, he has deployed some 50,000 troops against the drug cartels and more than 14,000 people have been killed. The drug war has become increasingly unpopular and even this week, the Mexican Congress has been debating whether the military should be pulled out of the fight. Thus for Calderon, this operation by the Mexican Navy was a rare opportunity to declare that he's making significant inroads against some of the most powerful criminal groups in the hemisphere. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.