The No. 3 figure in Mexico's Sinaloa drug trafficking organization, Ignacio "El Nacho" Coronel Villarreal, was killed in a government raid on two suspected Sinaloa safe houses in the wealthy Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan, Jalisco state, July 29. Along with the December 2009 death of Arturo Beltran Leyva, El Nacho's demise marks the second high-profile death of a senior drug cartel leader since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against the country's drug trafficking organizations in December 2006. His elimination gives a much-needed boost to the Mexican government's counternarcotics efforts as organized crime-related violence continues to increase throughout the country. Moreover, as a strong force in the Mexican drug trafficking scene and an integral part of the Sinaloa Federation's leadership and operations, El Nacho will be difficult for Sinaloa to replace.