Heriberto Lazcano, the leader of the Zetas drug cartel, appears to have been been killed in a firefight with soldiers in the northern border state of Coahuila.

The Mexican navy says fingerprints taken from the body of one of two men killed in the shootout have matched the records of Lazcano, known as El Lazca, confirming his death.

State authorities said that they managed to establish Lazcano's identity before the body was snatched, according to prosecutors, from a funeral home by armed men.

Al Jazeera's Adam Raney, reporting from Mexico City, said that it appears the government may have been "embarrassed" by the loss of Lazcano's body.