Two of Mexico’s top crime fighters died in a plane crash Tuesday night, leaving the government’s cabinet in tatters and serious questions hanging over the future of the country’s anti-narcotics strategy.

The victims were Juan Camilo Mouriño, government secretary and the man responsible for coordinating Mexico’s war against organised crime, and José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, a presidential advisor on security issues. According to local media reports, several motorists also died after the plane carrying the government officials ploughed into rush-hour traffic in Mexico City.