Morelia, February 2 (RHC-EFE) –- At least five suspected members of the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel were killed in a shootout with police officers in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, state officials said.

The shootout occurred in a remote mountainous area near Tumbiscatio, a city that is one of the cartel's main bastions.

Rural Force officers conducting an operation targeting cartel boss Servando Gomez Martinez, who is believed to be hiding in the mountains of Michoacan, engaged the gunmen in the shootout.

Federal Police officers were sent to the area to provide the Rural Force officers with support.

The Rural Force is made up mainly of members of the vigilante groups formed in 2013 to fight drug traffickers in Michoacan.