Mexico City, Jun 1 (EFE).- A gun battle between army troops and presumed drug-cartel enforcers in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa left three dead - including a soldier and a civilian - and two military men wounded.

Thursday's clash occurred when the troops stopped an SUV at a checkpoint set up near the town of Coyotitan, an official spokesperson told Efe.

The vehicle's passengers opened fire on the soldiers, killing one and wounding three others, while one presumed drug-gang member was slain in the exchange of fire.

Packets of marijuana were found inside the SUV, the spokesperson said.

Sinaloa is the area of influence of a powerful drug cartel led by Mexico's most-wanted fugitive, Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman. The war between his drug mob, named after the violence-ridden state, and the Gulf cartel is blamed for a wave of killings in several Mexican states.

A total of 43 drug-related murders occurred in Sinaloa in May; drug-related violence left more than 2,000 dead across Mexico last year and is on pace to exceed that total in 2007.

Since taking office last December, President Felipe Calderon has deployed more than 30,000 soldiers and federal police to nearly a dozen of Mexico's 31 states in a bid to stem the violence, so far with little success.

As part of that effort, Mexican army soldiers on Thursday found weapons and ammunition, bullet-proof vests and police uniforms at a home in Torreon, located in the northern state of Coahuila, the Defense Secretariat said in a statement.

The troops confiscated a total of 38 assault rifles, 12,200 cartridges of different calibers, 440 ammunition clips, six grenades and three handguns, according to the statement. EFE

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