A Mexican lawmaker was ambushed and killed, authorities said Wednesday, regarding the incident as one of the most high-profile murders the country has seen in recent years.

Federal congressman Gabriel Gomez Michel and aide Heriberto Nunez Ramos were on their way to the airport when their SUV was boxed in and commandeered by kidnappers in a highway just outside Guadalajara in western Jalisco.

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Authorities found the charred remains of the 49-year-old lawmaker and his aide inside the equally-burned SUV in neighboring Zacatecas early Tuesday. No bullets were found on the scene.

Investigations are still underway, but state prosecutor Arturo Nahle said the murders were likely carried out by the drug cartel.

"This is a classic organized crime execution," he said.

The modus operandi with which the execution was carried out suggests the Jalisco New Generation cartel is behind it, Nahle said during a local radio interview.

Jalisco's senior prosecutor Luis Carlos Najera said an inquiry to police response on the congressman's kidnapping would be opened, adding that poor police coordination gave the kidnappers enough time to escape.

Gomez Michel, a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, is the highest official killed since the assassination of gubernatorial candidate Rodolfo Torre in 2010, according to Reuters.

Prior to his killing, the official never received threats but now, extortionists are leveraging the murder as a means to demand protection money from local officials, Najera said.

Some 90,000 Mexicans have been killed from drug-related incidents since former President Felipe Calderon spearheaded a campaign to eliminate drug cartels in late 2006.

Attacks against local politicians have become prevalent since the drug crackdown but the murder of federal legislators are rare.

While the figures have dropped to 29 percent in the first of this year compared to two years ago since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office, crimes of extortion and kidnapping have been on the rise.

TagsMexico, drug cartel, Gabriel Gomez, Heriberto Nunez, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Zacatecas, political killings, Jalisco New Generation, Felipe Calderon, Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexican Drug War