A federal judge in Mexico who handled cases against high-ranking members of criminal gangs has been shot dead along with his wife at their home in the western state of Colima, sparking outrage in the country's legal community.

Though Mexico is plagued by growing drug-related violence and organized crime, the killing of a federal judge is unusual. Colima on the Pacific coast has become one of Mexico's deadliest because of its strategic location as a crossroads for the international drug trade dominated in the area by the Sinaloa cartel and splinter groups.

Supreme Court Chief Arturo Zaldívar interrupted a virtual court session Tuesday to announce the double-murder of Judge Uriel Villegas Ortiz and Verónica Barajas. The videotaped session shows concern spread across the faces of participants as Zaldívar laments the "terrible news" and asks for greater protection of judges.

Judges such as Villegas approve the detention of suspects in cases of organized crime and drug trafficking. Mexican media outlets reported Villegas transferred to Colima in February from the neighboring state of Jalisco, where he denied petitions to release numerous high-ranking members of organized crime.

Armed men reportedly stormed the couple's home but spared their two young daughters and a domestic employee.

Mexican Interior Minister Olga Sánchez, a former Supreme Court judge, said Wednesday that she knew Villegas personally. "He was doing his job, and he was doing it well," she said at a news conference. "He died for doing his job."

At the same event, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador promised to find and punish those responsible. "We will continue to confront delinquents," he said.

Colima is one of five Mexican states the U.S. State Department urges travelers to avoid. In June, the body of a missing Mexican congresswoman was found in a shallow grave more than a month after she was abducted by gunmen in Colima while raising awareness about the coronavirus pandemic.

Mexico's Federal Judiciary Board issued a statement saying its members, including circuit court judges, refuse to be intimated as they seek justice for Villegas, Barajas and others. "We won't stop, much less with intimidating acts," the board said.

Last year, the board evaluated 303 security requests from judges and magistrates. As of December, nearly 100 judges and magistrates in the country were under the protection of armed bodyguards, armored cars and bulletproof vests.