(NewsNation) — A former Mexican federal officer who survived a 2015 attack on a military helicopter has been shot and killed a decade later.
According to multiple Mexican news outlets, Iván Morales Corrales and a woman he was traveling with were shot to death April 30. He was believed to have escaped the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación once before, during a secret military operation to take down the group’s leader known as “El Mencho.”
The pair were reportedly traveling in a black pickup truck in Temixco, Mexico, about 60 miles south of Mexico City, when a white pickup truck hit their vehicle. El Universal reported that several armed men fired at least 15 rounds, killing Morales Corrales and his companion.
The gunmen ran toward the main street, where getaway drivers were waiting on motorcycles, according to reports. No arrests have been made. Sources with the State Attorney General’s Office told El Universal that revenge was a possible motive.
Morales Corrales had been known for his anti-drug efforts as a federal police officer before being badly injured and burned in a helicopter crash, believed to have been commissioned by CJNG, on May 1, 2015. The mission’s goal was to arrest Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho.”
In 2019, Morales Corrales shared his survival story with the Louisville Courier Journal, which reported a nine-month investigation on CJNG’s drug reach across the United States.