Police escort Arnoldo Rueda, an alleged coordinator for the Mexican drug cartel, during a presentation in Mexico City, 11 Jul 2009Mexican gunmen attacked federal forces across the western state of Michoacan on Saturday, killing at least five people and wounding 18 others.

A federal police spokesman, Rodolfo Cruz, says the onslaught appeared to be in retaliation for the arrest of a suspected drug cartel operative.

He said Arnoldo Rueda, an alleged key member of the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel, was captured Saturday morning in Morelia.  Shortly after his arrest, some two dozen armed men threw grenades into the federal offices where Rueda was being held and opened fire.

The attackers failed to secure Rueda's release, and the violence then spread across the Pacific coast state.  Three federal agents and two soldiers were killed. 

President Felipe Calderon's home state of Michoacan has been at the center of his drug war.  He has deployed 36,000 troops to fight drug gangs that are engaged in a bloody war to gain control of the lucrative trafficking routes into the United States.  

More than 7,000 people have been killed since the beginning of last year.   

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.