The operation against Mexico’s most wanted cartel boss and the violence that followed have left at least 62 people dead, the Mexican authorities said on Monday, as new details emerged about the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho".
Mexico’s defence secretary, Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, said the authorities obtained information about Oseguera’s location from one of his romantic partners, and that US authorities provided “a lot of additional information” that helped them pinpoint the site that was raided on Sunday.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said that officials had established a command centre with state governors to coordinate efforts to restore calm, a day after Mexican authorities killed Oseguera, the longtime leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organisations, setting off unrest.
Sheinbaum, speaking at her daily news conference, said that all roadblocks constructed by the cartels and their supporters had been cleared.
The violence stranded travellers in the country and forced many international airlines to cancel flights. The US state department told American citizens in five Mexican states to "shelter in place". Sheinbaum said she hoped cancelled flights — particularly some to the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta — would be fully restored no later than Tuesday.
General Trevilla Trejo said that the Mexican authorities planned the operation that killed Oseguera, with the help of US intelligence.
Oseguera was captured in Tapalpa, a town in the western coastal state of Jalisco, on Sunday, two days after learning that a man close to one of his romantic partners was there, General Trevilla Trejo said. The man took her to see Oseguera, the general said, and when she left a house there on Saturday, the authorities stopped her and obtained information that he was inside.
Oseguera and his personal security team tried to flee when surrounded by special forces, the general said, and were cornered by a wooded area. Oseguera’s security team fired at soldiers and at a military helicopter, and when the military returned fire, General Trevilla Trejo said, Oseguera was wounded. He died while being transported to Mexico City for medical treatment.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which vowed to seek revenge after the killing, oversaw an enterprise that had expanded rapidly over the past decade, producing and selling drugs, extorting businesses and terrorising communities.
The death of Oseguera is a major victory for the Mexican authorities, who recently launched a new offensive against drug cartels. The operation could also help counteract pressure from President Donald Trump, who has threatened military strikes against Mexico if it did not do more to fight cartels.
Guadalajara woke to an eerie silence on Monday, as if suspended in a tense calm: Most gas stations were shuttered, and normally clogged thoroughfares had thinned into long, nearly empty stretches of asphalt. Schools cancelled classes and most businesses, including supermarkets and concenience stores, remained closed. Along the main highway near the airport, along the main highway, a charred bus lay on its side, its metal frame still smelling of smoke.
New York Times News Service
