Chaos swept across parts of western Mexico on Sunday following the killing of one of the country’s most feared cartel leaders in a military operation that officials say was carried out with U.S. cooperation.
Mexican special forces killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the longtime head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), during an operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, according to the Mexican government. Oseguera was widely regarded as one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world.
According to the Mexican Embassy in the United States, the United States provided “complementary information” to Mexican authorities as part of bilateral coordination.
Following the operation, cartel members engaged in violent acts in parts of Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guanajuato, setting buses on fire and erecting roadblocks in multiple cities, according to Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro. In response, Lemus Navarro announced that schools throughout the state would be closed.
The U.S. State Department urged American citizens to shelter in place if they are in Jalisco State — including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara — as well as Tamaulipas, parts of Michoacán, Guerrero, and Nuevo León.
Additional footage appeared to show fires in the parking lot of a Costco in Puerto Vallarta, a coastal city popular with American tourists that draws millions of visitors each year.
Derek Maltz, former acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration until May, told The Daily Wire that Oseguera had long been the top cartel target for the United States.
“Obviously, El Mencho has been like public enemy number one for many years. He’s built up this global enterprise with the CJNG,” Maltz said. “We’ve been sharing intelligence against Mencho for a long time. And we share intelligence daily with our counterparts in the embassy in Mexico.”
Maltz added that the DEA, together with the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and others are working with their Mexican counterparts “every day to go after these cartel leaders.”
Oseguera was one of Mexico’s most wanted men. The Mexican government had offered a 30 million peso reward — roughly $1.7 million — for information leading to his arrest. The United States had posted a $15 million reward, reported CNN.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has previously described the cartel as among the “most powerful and ruthless criminal organizations” operating inside Mexico, calling it a key supplier of illicit fentanyl and cocaine to the United States. The DEA added that the group’s facilitators and associates operate in nearly all 50 U.S. states.
In 2022, the United States Department of Justice charged Oseguera with leading efforts to manufacture and distribute fentanyl for importation into the United States. The CJNG was later designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump administration.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau celebrated the news on X.
“I’ve just been informed that Mexican security forces have killed ‘El Mencho,’ one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins,” Landau wrote. “This is a great development for Mexico, the U.S., Latin America, and the world. The good guys are stronger than the bad guys.”
The Mexican government said various aircraft from the Air Force and the Special Immediate Reaction Force of the National Guard participated in the raid. During the operation, military personnel reportedly came under attack.
“In defense of their physical integrity, they repelled the aggression,” the embassy said. Four CJNG members were killed at the scene. Three others, severely wounded, died during an airlift to Mexico City, including Oseguera. Several additional suspects were arrested.
Authorities also seized armored vehicles and heavy weaponry, including rocket launchers capable of downing aircraft and destroying armored vehicles. Three Mexican security personnel were injured.
“From day one, President Trump and this administration has made it clear that if you’re selling drugs and moving poisonous substances into America, you’re going to be held accountable,” Maltz said. “He declared the cartels as terrorists; he’s declared fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. So he’s doing everything to put American citizens first.”
He added that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been highly cooperative with the Trump administration, sending 92 high-level Mexican cartel leaders and gang leaders to America to face justice.
“That has never happened in the history of our war against the cartels,” Maltz said.
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