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Moisés Escamilla May, a notorious leader of a Mexican gang, died in prison after contracting coronavirus.
Escamilla, 45, was the leader of a group within the dreaded Los Zetas criminal cartel.
He was serving a 37-year sentence for organized crime, including his role in the beheading of 12 people in Yucatan.
More than 3,450 have died with Covid-19 in Mexico, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.
Who was Moisés Escamilla?
Moisés Escamilla May, also known as Gordo May (Fat May), led a group calling himself “Old School Zetas,” which was part of the Los Zetas criminal cartel.
It was the main supplier of cocaine in Cancun, and smuggled it through shipping routes from Central America to the popular resort.
He also ran a network of informants that included members of the local police.
When he was arrested in 2008 along with eight of his men, his group was considered the strongest criminal organization in the Cancun area.
He was seen as a very dangerous inmate and when he died he was detained in the Puente Grande maximum security prison in the state of Jalisco.
He developed respiratory problems on May 6 and died two days later, but authorities only released his death on Sunday.
How affected is Mexico by the coronavirus?
According to the Johns Hopkins University count, Mexico has more than 35,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 3,465 deaths.
That number is much lower than that of its northern neighbor, the United States, which has the highest number of confirmed infections worldwide with more than 1.3 million.
However, many in Mexico fear that a low level of evidence means that the actual number of cases could be much higher.
What is the situation in prisons?
The United Nations warned that prisons in Latin America, which are often overcrowded, could become hotbeds of coronaviruses, as it is impossible for inmates to withdraw socially.
There have been deadly riots in prisons in Venezuela, Peru and Colombia, and inmates demanded that more be done to protect them from the virus.
Activists criticized an amnesty law passed in Mexico to allow some inmates to be released and alleviate prison overcrowding during the pandemic for not having enough scope to make a difference.
In the Puente Grande prison alone, 74 cases of coronavirus have been reported, according to local media.
