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Mexican
soldiers
walk
next to
the site
of the
incineration
of more
than 20
tons of
cocaine
in
Manzanillo.
Photograph:
Alfredo
Estrella/AFP/Getty
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With a
strategic
location
in
central
Mexico
and
close to
the
CJNG’s
heartland
in
Jalisco
and
Nayarit,
it is
surprising
that
Aguascalientes
avoided
being a
major
cartel
battleground
throughout
most of
the
2010s. |
| |
Mexican
Military
Kills
Cartel
Kingpin;
Clashes
Breakout
In
Guadalajara,
Puerto
Vallarta
Luis
Fernando
Arce -
Mexico/Latin
America
Tell Us
Worldwide
News
Network
MEXICO
CITY -
The
leader
of the
Jalisco
New
Generation
Cartel,
Nemesio
Rubén
“El
Mencho”
Oseguera
Cervantes,
has been
killed
in a
Mexican
military
operation
in the
western
state of
Jalisco,
a senior
federal
official
confirmed
Sunday.
The
takedown
of one
of
Mexico’s
most
wanted
drug
lords
has set
off a
new wave
of
violence
across
the
state
and
several
neighboring
regions
as
security
forces
brace
for
reprisals
and
potential
internal
power
struggles
within
the
cartel.
According
to
officials,
Oseguera
Cervantes
was
killed
during a
federal
security
operation
centered
on the
municipality
of
Tapalpa,
a
mountainous
area of
Jalisco
that has
long
been
identified
as CJNG
territory.
Reports
of
intense
helicopter
activity
and army
convoys
moving
through
the
region
on
Sunday
morning
were
quickly
followed
by
accounts
of
gunfire,
suggesting
a
sustained
confrontation
before
the
cartel
boss was
confirmed
dead at
the
scene.
In the
hours
after
the
operation,
organized
crime
groups
linked
to CJNG
ignited
vehicles
and
buses
and
threw up
roadblocks
on key
highways
in and
around
Guadalajara,
Puerto
Vallarta
and
Tapalpa,
effectively
cutting
off
parts of
the
state
and
stranding
travelers.
Similar
blockades
and
arson
attacks
were
reported
in
Michoacán,
Colima,
Guanajuato,
Tamaulipas
and
Aguascalientes,
where
burning
vehicles
and
gunfire
were
used to
impede
the
movement
of
federal
and
state
forces.
Jalisco
Governor
Pablo
Lemus
Navarro
said the
violence
was a
direct
reaction
to the
federal
operation
and
announced
that a
coordinated
security
committee
had been
activated
with
state,
federal
and
municipal
authorities.
Residents
were
urged to
avoid
nonessential
travel
as
troops
and
National
Guard
units
moved to
secure
major
roads,
tourist
corridors
and fuel
routes,
particularly
around
Guadalajara
and the
coastal
resort
city of
Puerto
Vallarta.
Canada’s
foreign
ministry
updated
its
travel
advisory
for
Puerto
Vallarta
and
parts of
Jalisco,
warning
citizens
about
sudden
blockades,
gunfire
and
torched
vehicles
following
the
operation
that
killed
Oseguera
Cervantes.
Officials
noted
that
tourists
could
face
rapidly
changing
security
conditions,
including
temporary
closures
of roads
and
businesses,
as
authorities
work to
regain
control
of
affected
areas.
Oseguera
Cervantes,
a former
police
officer,
rose
over the
past
decade
to head
what
U.S. and
Mexican
authorities
have
described
as one
of the
country’s
most
powerful
and
violent
criminal
organizations,
with a
reach
that
extended
across
multiple
Mexican
states
and into
drug
trafficking
routes
to the
United
States.
The U.S.
State
Department
had
offered
a reward
of up to
15
million
dollars
for
information
leading
to his
capture,
reflecting
Washington’s
assessment
of CJNG
as a
major
player
in the
trafficking
of
methamphetamine,
heroin
and
fentanyl.
Security
analysts
say his
death
marks
one of
the most
significant
blows to
organized
crime in
Mexico
in
recent
years
but warn
it may
unleash
new
rounds
of
violence
as rival
factions
inside
and
outside
CJNG
move to
fill the
power
vacuum.
Previous
offensives
against
cartel
leaders
have
often
led to
fragmentation
and turf
wars,
and
there
are
early
concerns
that
states
where
CJNG has
entrenched
control
could
see
prolonged
fighting
as
succession
battles
play
out.
For now,
authorities
remain
on high
alert
across
western
Mexico,
where
the
sight of
charred
buses,
burned-out
trucks
and
heavily
armed
patrols
has
become
the
immediate
visual
legacy
of the
military
operation
that
ended
the rule
of “El
Mencho”
and
ushered
in a
volatile
new
phase in
Mexico’s
long-running
confrontation
with
cartel
power.
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