Mexican security forces shot dead a top aide to the country's most wanted drug trafficker in a raid in a mountainous region of northern Mexico, defense officials said Monday.

Luis Alberto Cabrera Sarabia, alias "The Architect," was killed Friday during an air and land raid in Canatlan, Durango state, which started with a shootout at a ranch, army spokesman general Ricardo Trevilla told a news conference.

According to Trevilla, he was "one of the main lieutenants of Joaquin Guzman Loera alias 'El Chapo.'"

Another gunman died in the operation and 11 others were detained, Trevilla said. Three soldiers were also wounded.

The army said Luis Alberto Cabrera Sarabia took over as aide to the fugitive head of the Sinaloa drug cartel after his brother, Felipe Carbrera Sarabia or "The Engineer," was detained in December.

The northern states of Durango, Sinaloa and Chihuahua are known as the "Golden Triangle," a key area of production of Mexican opium and marijuana.