Mexico: Parents of Los Zetas boss Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano to be exhumed for DNA testing

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Mexican authorities plan to exhume the remains of the parents of slain drug lord Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano to obtain DNA for testing to prove he was the man killed in a shootout with marines earlier this month, Milenio reported today.

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Lazcano’s body was stolen from a funeral home a few hours after he was shot dead in the northern state of Coahuila on October 7 and there have been rumors ever since that the Los Zetas leader was still alive, the Associated Press reported.

Authorities hope genetic material taken from Lazcano's parents will put end to the speculation. 

"We have located where his parents were buried (in the southeastern state of Hidalgo) and we are now trying to get permission to begin the exhumation, in order to ascertain their genetic profile," Cuitlahuac Salinas, head of Mexico's organized crime unit, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The identification process could be difficult, however, because Lazcano’s parents have been dead for “many years,” Salinas said.

Reuters said the Mexican navy claims it identified Lazcano from his fingerprints before his body was stolen by a group of armed men.

But the height of the man killed in Coahuila did not match Lazcano’s records, fueling suspicion in Mexico that Lazcano was still alive, Spanish news agency EFE reported.

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