Mexico is on high alert with schools closed and travel warnings issued after the death of a top cartel leader triggered widespread retaliatory violence.
GUADALAJARA: Mexico was placed on high alert on Monday with schools closed and travellers stranded as members of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) launched a violent rampage following the army’s announcement that it had killed their leader.
Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, the leader of the CJNG, was wounded in a clash with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa in Jalisco state and died while being flown to Mexico City, according to a Sunday statement from the Mexican army.
The 59-year-old, who had a USD 15 million US bounty on his head, was considered the last of the old-school drug lords operating in the brutal mold of the now-imprisoned Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
News of his death triggered cartel members across the country to block roads, torch vehicles and businesses, and send fearful residents into hiding, with the streets of the state capital Guadalajara left almost empty as stores, pharmacies and gas stations shut down.
Maria Medina, who works at a gas station that was set on fire, said armed men showed up and told everyone to get out, adding, “I thought they were going to kidnap us.”
The violence spread to the neighbouring state of Michoacan, where Oseguera’s cartel also has a presence, and gripped the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, prompting international travel warnings.
The UK Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to parts of Mexico including Jalisco, while Washington asked US citizens to “shelter in place until further notice.”
Canada told its citizens to keep a “low profile,” citing “shootouts with security forces and explosions,” as dozens of US and Canadian flights were cancelled following the unrest.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged citizens to remain calm amid the chaos, which experts warn could escalate due to a potential power vacuum within the cartel.
With his son Ruben “El Menchito” Oseguera Gonzalez convicted by a US federal jury last September, analyst David Mora from the Crisis Group warned that “the absence of a direct succession… opens the door to violent realignments within the organization.”
Mexico stated that the operation to seize Oseguera was carried out with “complementary information” from US authorities, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirming Washington “provided intelligence support.”
Six suspected cartel gunmen besides Oseguera were also killed and three soldiers were wounded in the raid, according to the Mexican army, which also arrested two suspects and seized a variety of weapons including rocket launchers.
As gunmen blocked roads with retaliatory violence, Jalisco state, which is scheduled to host four World Cup games this summer, cancelled all events involving large crowds.
Oseguera was a founding member of the CJNG, formed in 2009, which has grown into one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels and is classified by the US as a terrorist organization for trafficking cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau welcomed the operation, calling Oseguera “one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins,” amid ongoing pressure from US President Donald Trump for Mexico to stem the flow of drugs.
The raid and subsequent violence prompted Guatemala to reinforce “strategic” sections of its frontier with Mexico, which has seen cross-border incursions by criminal groups linked to cartels in recent months.
