MEXICO CITY: One of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords, Nemesio Oseguera, or El Mencho, was killed in a military raid on Sunday (Feb 22), sparking widespread retaliatory violence.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has been under mounting pressure from Washington to intensify her offensive against drug cartels blamed for producing and smuggling drugs, particularly the synthetic opioid fentanyl, across the border to the United States.
Oseguera, 60, the mastermind of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), died in custody after being injured in a military operation by Mexican special forces in the town of Tapalpa on Mexico’s Pacific coast in Jalisco state, according to Mexico’s defence ministry.
His corpse arrived in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon in a heavily guarded convoy of National Guard troops.
Mexican forces led and carried out the raid with intelligence support from the US, sources said.
A new US-military-led task force played a role, a US defence official told Reuters. Mexico’s defence ministry said it received “complementary information” from the US.
After reports of El Mencho’s death, cartel henchmen blockaded highways with burning cars and torched businesses in more than half a dozen states, paralysing parts of the country. No civilian deaths have been reported.
In Jalisco’s popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, frightened tourists on social media described a “war zone” as plumes of dark smoke rose into the sky from around the bay. Air Canada, United Airlines, Aeromexico and American Airlines suspended flights in the area.
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