One of Mexico's most notorious drugs bosses is believed to have been killed after clashes between gunmen and security forces.

Nazario Moreno, known as The Craziest One, the head of the powerful La Familia cartel, was presumed dead after fighting in the western state of Michoacán, according to the national security chief, Alejandro Poire. At least five others, including an eight-month-old have also died in violence that has raged in the state since Wednesday night.

Armed men blockaded roads leading to Morelia city, and hijacked cars and lorries while firing shots to force drivers and passengers from their vehicles.

Moreno is believed to be the leader of La Familia, a gang that uses pseudo-religious philosophy to justify the murders of rivals and keep its traffickers from abusing drugs.

The group, which officials say is Mexico's main trafficker of methamphetamine, captured nationwide attention in 2006 by rolling severed heads on to the floor of a disco in Uruapan city.

Shortly afterwards, the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, sent thousands of federal troops and police into Michoacán, his home state and the base of La Familia.

Moreno preached Bible scripture mixed with self-help slogans to gang members and tried to promote a mystique that is unique among Mexican gangs by claiming to protect the local population.

Last night's blockades came a day after three people were killed in a shootout between suspected La Familia gunmen and federal police in Apatzingán de la Constitución, another city in the state.

One of those killed was a baby of eight months who was in a taxi with his mother, according to the attorney general's office. Another was the teenage daughter of a former Apatzingán mayor. She was a passenger in a car caught in the crossfire and was not deliberately targeted.

By last night, the death toll had risen to five, including two federal police officers. Three other officers were injured.

The violence followed the arrest of several key La Familia leaders. One of those held, Sergio Moreno Godinez, said under police interrogation last month that the cartel was in decline. He confirmed the authenticity of a letter, emailed to journalists and dropped on the streets of several towns, saying the cartel wanted to disband and negotiate a truce with authorities. The government has ignored the offer.

If his death is confirmed, Moreno will be the second drugs kingpin to be eliminated in just over a month, after the killing of the Gulf cartel's Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén last month.

La Familia was hit last year by the arrests of two leaders, and is fighting the Zetas and the Beltrán Leyva cartel for control of the Michoacán coast, where traffickers receive illegal shipments of chemicals to make methamphetamines.