Video footage has emerged showing the dying moments of a female cartel boss after she was fatally wounded during a shootout with police in Mexico.
The clip and photographs appear to confirm she was María Guadalupe López Esquivel, known as 'La Catrina,' a female member of a cartel hit squad that massacred 13 police officers in October.
The 21-year-old was involved in an attack against the military, national guard and police in La Bocanda, a town in the central state of Michoacán.
Officials in Michoacán said six male gunmen were captured and a woman was killed after they opened fire on soldiers and police in the same area where the October ambush occurred.
State officials initially did not provide the identity of the woman killed in the Friday shootout, but videos and photos posted on the internet late Sunday showed the woman wounded on a stretcher, with a tattoo of a 'Catrina' on her thigh.
Photos of the woman circulated earlier showed the same tattoo in the same place; some photos also show her holding a pistol.
Video showed the woman had been shot in the neck and apparently died of blood loss.
Footage recorded by the military showed a battered and bloodied López Esquivel sitting on the ground and struggling with her breath.
A Mexican soldier is hear in the video assuring her the medical assistance was on the way.
'Relax dear, the helicopter is coming for you,' the serviceman said. 'Relax dear, you are going to be fine. Try to hold on, OK.'
In a separate video, a soldier carries López Esquivel and kneels on the ground before she was placed inside an awaiting helicopter in the municipality of Tepalcatepec.
The other arrested suspects were identified as Alejandra; Everardo; Brayan Juan; Juan Carlos; Octavio; Pedro; and Alejandro. Because of the Mexican judicial system's due process laws, the last names of the suspects were not publicized.
López Esquivel operated under the nom de guerre of 'La Catrina,' Mexico's 'Grande Dame of Death.'
Women have sometimes occupied high-level positions as money launderers in drug cartels in the past, but it is rare for them to command or coordinate hit squads.
La Catrina reportedly was meeting with another top cartel cell leader, Miguel 'M2' Fernández, before the gang attacked the security forces. M2 reportedly escaped unharmed.
The clip and photographs appear to confirm she was María Guadalupe López Esquivel, known as 'La Catrina,' a female member of a cartel hit squad that massacred 13 police officers in October.
The 21-year-old was involved in an attack against the military, national guard and police in La Bocanda, a town in the central state of Michoacán.
Officials in Michoacán said six male gunmen were captured and a woman was killed after they opened fire on soldiers and police in the same area where the October ambush occurred.
State officials initially did not provide the identity of the woman killed in the Friday shootout, but videos and photos posted on the internet late Sunday showed the woman wounded on a stretcher, with a tattoo of a 'Catrina' on her thigh.
Photos of the woman circulated earlier showed the same tattoo in the same place; some photos also show her holding a pistol.
Video showed the woman had been shot in the neck and apparently died of blood loss.
Footage recorded by the military showed a battered and bloodied López Esquivel sitting on the ground and struggling with her breath.
A Mexican soldier is hear in the video assuring her the medical assistance was on the way.
'Relax dear, the helicopter is coming for you,' the serviceman said. 'Relax dear, you are going to be fine. Try to hold on, OK.'
In a separate video, a soldier carries López Esquivel and kneels on the ground before she was placed inside an awaiting helicopter in the municipality of Tepalcatepec.
The other arrested suspects were identified as Alejandra; Everardo; Brayan Juan; Juan Carlos; Octavio; Pedro; and Alejandro. Because of the Mexican judicial system's due process laws, the last names of the suspects were not publicized.
López Esquivel operated under the nom de guerre of 'La Catrina,' Mexico's 'Grande Dame of Death.'
Women have sometimes occupied high-level positions as money launderers in drug cartels in the past, but it is rare for them to command or coordinate hit squads.
La Catrina reportedly was meeting with another top cartel cell leader, Miguel 'M2' Fernández, before the gang attacked the security forces. M2 reportedly escaped unharmed.
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