Gunmen kill a navy rear admiral in Mexico, one of the highest-ranking officers slain in a decade

MEXICO CITY — Gunmen on Friday killed a navy rear admiral in Mexico, one of the highest-ranking officers slain in the country in a decade.

Mexico's navy said that a rear admiral — which is just below full admiral, the navy’s highest rank — had been shot to death in the Pacific coast port city of Manzanillo. Local media gave his name as Fernando Guerrero Alcántar, but a navy spokesman would not confirm that, or whether he was in uniform at the time.

The navy said in a statement that he was driving in his own private vehicle when the attack occurred, so it was unclear if the gunmen knew who he was.

He would be one of the highest-ranking military officers killed in Mexico since 2013.

That year, gunmen in the neighboring state of Michoacan ambushed and killed Vice Adm. Carlos Miguel Salazar, the top navy commander in the neighboring Pacific coastal state of Jalisco. Members of the Knights Templar drug cartel were blamed for that killing.

Vice admiral is a slightly higher rank than rear admiral.

Attacks by Mexican cartels on high-ranking officers have occurred, but are relatively rare.

However, the Mexican government has given more law-enforcement responsibility to the navy, army and the militarized National Guard in recent years, and they now represent the front-line forces against the country's drug cartels.

Manzanillo, because it is a Pacific coast port with direct shipments from China and other places in Asia, is highly prized by drug cartels seeking to smuggle in precursor chemicals to produce the deadly opioid fentanyl.