Top Mexico City police chief shot dead

MEXICO CITY

Mexico City's police special operations chief has been killed in the capital, local authorities said, the latest in a series of attacks targeting officials and politicians across the country.

"As a result of a cowardly attack that occurred in Coacalco, Mexico State, my colleague and friend Chief Commissioner Milton Morales Figueroa lost his life," a local security secretary Pablo Vazquez said on social platform X.

The officer, who was in charge of intelligence operations fighting organized crime, was outside a poultry store when he was accosted by a man who shot him, according to security camera footage.

"Milton was in charge of important investigative tasks to protect the peace and security of the residents of Mexico City," Mayor Marti Batres wrote on X.

Small drug trafficking and smuggling cells operating in the megacity are connected to some of the country's powerful drug cartels such as the powerful Jalisco Cartel - New Generation (CJNG).

Local media reported that Figueroa's work had helped dismantle some gangs.

While several police chiefs have been targeted in other Mexican states plagued by criminal violence recent years, attacks against authorities in the capital have been rare.

The country of 126 million people has seen more than 450,000 people murdered since the government of then-president Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.