Mexican authorities have confirmed that the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was killed after being tracked to a safe house near the town of Tapalpa, about 80 miles south-west of Guadalajara. The 59-year-old was located by following a romantic partner, with the operation supported by US intelligence. He was fatally injured as the military attempted to capture him and later died while being transferred for medical treatment in Mexico City.
Defence Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said El Mencho's bodyguards opened fire on soldiers as they encircled the cabin in a wooded area. The gunfire forced a helicopter into an emergency landing, echoing a failed 2015 attempt to capture the cartel leader when his men brought down a helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. El Mencho fled into a nearby forest, where he was wounded and captured. Seven of his men were killed and two soldiers wounded. Rifles and grenade launchers were seized.
The operation immediately triggered a wave of violence across western Mexico. Cartel gunmen blocked almost 100 major roads, torched vehicles and attacked security forces, particularly in Jalisco and Michoacán. Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said 25 members of the national guard were killed and 14 wounded, along with 34 gunmen and one bystander. Another 70 people were arrested. Hugo César Macías Ureña, alias El Tuli, a close ally of El Mencho who coordinated the retaliatory attacks and offered a bounty for every dead soldier, was also killed in a confrontation.
By Monday, authorities said all blockades had been cleared. President Claudia Sheinbaum stated: "Mexico is at peace, calm, and we are working in all the states." However, sporadic reports of burning vehicles continued in Michoacán, and schools remained closed in many states as a precaution. Some airlines had yet to resume normal services to Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, which bore the brunt of the cartel's response.
Stephen Woodman, a security analyst in Guadalajara, said the violence "kicked off pretty immediately" as news of the operation broke. He said such groups have plans in place to coordinate quickly in the event of a major arrest, to cause the maximum amount of trouble. "It was quite overwhelming with reports coming in all over the place," he added. The sense of panic was compounded by misinformation, including AI-generated images and footage, swirling on social media. "You had to question everything," he said.
As chaos spread, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro urged the state's eight million residents to stay at home and suspended public transport. In Guadalajara, trainee doctor Tanya Dittmar hid in a closet when an hour-long gun battle erupted near her home as cartel gunmen attacked a National Guard base. "I was making breakfast with a Netflix series on in the background," she said. "At first I thought I was hearing drills from a building site. But I have six dogs and they got very nervous. I paused the series and then I realised they were gun shots." She added: "I had never heard a bullet before. That's when I got really frightened."
