A major coup for Mexican authorities turned to embarrassment on Tuesday as it emerged that the body of the slain leader of the Zetas drug cartel was stolen from a funeral parlor.

Heriberto Lazcano, described as ambitious and ruthless, was Mexico's second most-wanted man, and his killing was the government's biggest blow against drug cartels since it deployed federal troops to fight them in 2006.

Lazcano's corpse and that of another man were taken to a funeral home in the town of Sabinas, in the northern state of Coahuila, shortly after the two were killed in a shootout on Sunday with naval special forces.