The gunbattle took place in Ayotlan, Jalisco. The town is about a 40-minute drive from Michoacan state where drug violence is rampant.
The soldiers say they were alerted that heavily armed men were guarding a hotel called Los Arcos. When they arrived the men opened fire, they say.
The army alleges that the men were members of the Zetas drug cartel, and say they found assault rifles, grenade launchers and ammunition at the scene. The bodies were taken to a morgue.
In nearby Guadalajara, a man was arrested trying to board a plane at the international airport carrying more than $290,000 in US currency hidden in a suitcase with 12 pairs of women’s shoes, Mexico’s Defense Department said. He was headed for Panama.
Civil protection officials in the resort city of Acapulco said Saturday that two human heads were found on a highway bridge, wrapped in colorful plastic. The body of a third, 20-year-old man was found nearby riddled with bullets.
As police worked, dancers participated in an anti-violence festival for locals and tourists a few hundred yards away.
