Mexico’s attorney general has announced a US$2 million reward for each of the country’s 24 most-wanted drug gang chiefs.



BBC reports say the most-wanted list is a public challenge to the cartels.



Some 8,000 people have died in the past two years, as drug gangs fight for territory amid government crackdowns.



US and Mexican agencies are increasing their co-operation as the gang violence spills over the border, where kidnaps and killings are on the rise.



The reward offer comes two days before a trip to Mexico by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and a month before President Barack Obama is due to visit that country.