Mexico kills cartel leader wanted by US, sparking violent reaction

The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho”, on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel and thrusting swaths of the nation into chaos.

The drug lord was the Mexican government’s biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration in its efforts to crack down on the cartels, and his death was met with a forceful reaction from the cartel, known by its Spanish initials CJNG.

Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states and left smoke billowing into the air. Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, was turned into a ghost town Sunday night as civilians hunkered down. School was cancelled Monday in several states.

Mexico Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said on Monday 25 members of the National Guard were left dead in Jalisco in six separate attacks.

Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defence Department said in a statement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.

During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said. Two others were arrested and armoured vehicles, rocket launchers and other arms were seized. Three members of the armed forces were wounded and receiving medical treatment.