Mexico has deployed 10,000 troops to quell clashes sparked by the killing of the country’s most-wanted drug lord that claimed dozens of lives, officials said on Monday, February 23. Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was wounded Sunday in a shootout with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the army said.
News of his death triggered violence, with cartel members blocking roads in 20 states and torching vehicles and businesses. During the raid on Oseguera and subsequent clashes, at least 27 members of security forces, 46 suspected criminals and one civilian were killed, authorities reported. A prison break in Jalisco saw at least 23 people escape when their jail was attacked in a hail of gunfire by “criminal groups,” according to the state security secretary. Oseguera had a $15 million US bounty on his head.
Fearful residents went into hiding and tourists took shelter in their hotels as cartel members went on the rampage over the weekend. Even as calm largely returned, many businesses remained closed Monday. In Jalisco’s state capital, Guadalajara, schools remained closed and most public transportation was suspended. Large lines formed outside the few small stores that remained open.
Resort town rocked
The weekend violence also gripped the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, popular with US tourists. Travel warnings from Britain, Canada and the United States were issued in the fallout, with Australia urging citizens to “exercise a degree of caution.” Dozens of US and Canadian flights were canceled.
Oseguera, 59, was considered the last of the drug lords who acted in the brutal mold of the now-imprisoned Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, of the rival Sinaloa cartel. He was a founding member of CJNG, which was formed in 2009 and has grown into one of Mexico’s most violent crime organizations.
With his son Ruben “El Menchito” Oseguera Gonzalez, 35, convicted by a federal jury in Washington in September, experts have warned the “absence of a direct succession” could lead to a power vacuum.
Mexico said the operation to seize Oseguera was helped by “complementary information” from US authorities. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Washington “provided intelligence support.” President Claudia Sheinbaum was adamant that no US forces took part in the capture raid.
Two suspected cartel members were arrested and a variety of weapons seized during the operation, including rocket launchers capable of downing airplanes and destroying armored vehicles, the army said.
Washington has classified CJNG as a terrorist organization and accuses it of sending cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the US. The raid came amid ongoing pressure from Trump for Mexico to stem the flow of drugs into the US or face stiff tariffs.