A federal official confirmed that Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," was buried in a cemetery in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city on Monday.
Dozens of people accompanied the funeral procession, many carrying black umbrellas on a sunny day and with a band playing Mexican regional music known as banda.
The attorney general's office declined to confirm the location of El Mencho's burial for "security reasons".
There had been stepped up security since Sunday around a funeral home where large flower wreaths had been arriving without a name.
Some did include the image of a rooster in flowers and Oseguera Cervantes was sometimes called the "Lord of the Roosters".
The Mexican army killed Oseguera Cervantes just over a week ago while attempting to capture him. He died from multiple bullet wounds, according to the death certificate obtained by The Associated Press.
The killing set off violence in some 20 states.
The death certificate fits with a description of the operation to capture Oseguera Cervantes given by Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla, who had said that the cartel leader and two bodyguards had been badly wounded in a gunfight with soldiers outside a home in Tapalpa, Jalisco.
The three died en route to a hospital.
The certificate specified that Oseguera Cervantes had bullet wounds to his chest, abdomen and legs.
His body was taken to Mexico City where an autopsy was performed and then the body was turned over to his family on Saturday, the attorney general's office said in a brief statement.
The death certificate also notes that Oseguera Cervantes was to be buried, standard practice in cases of violent deaths to allow for additional forensic evidence to be gathered if needed in the future. The document did not say where the burial would take place.
Authorities' security concerns surrounding the burial location are well founded.
The military operation against El Mencho, 59, triggered a wave of violence across much of Mexico, including fiery road blockades, arson attacks on businesses, flight cancellations, and attacks on security forces by organised crime.
More than 70 people died between the military operation and the violence.
The government has said that security operations continue against other high-ranking members of the cartel.
It customary for an air of mystery to surround the burials of drug lords in Mexico, something their supporters take advantage of to try to elevate them to legend.
Within hours of El Mencho's death there were already ballads, known as narcocorridos, written about his killing.
In Culiacan, in neighbouring Sinaloa state, home to a cartel of the same name, there is a cemetery known for its luxury crypts and mausoleums for one-time kingpins like Ignacio Coronel - an old associate of El Mencho - and Arturo Beltrán Leyva.
with EFE
