Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, generally generally known as ‘El Mencho,’ has been killed in a army raid, Mexican officers mentioned on Sunday, because the nation’s authorities has been ramping up stress on cartels after US intervention threats.
Mexico’s protection ministry mentioned a shootout within the western state of Jalisco left Oseguera significantly injured and he died throughout an air switch to Mexico Metropolis. The ministry famous that US authorities had supplied “complementary data.”
The operation set off a wave of violence, with torched vehicles and gunmen blocking highways in additional than half a dozen states.
An ex-police officer, Oseguera was the shadowy chief of the highly effective Jalisco New Technology Cartel (CJNG), an outfit named for the western state that’s house to certainly one of Mexico’s greatest cities, Guadalajara.
Over a comparatively brief time frame, the CJNG morphed into a world prison enterprise rivaling former allies within the Sinaloa Cartel, the gang of captured kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, now in a US jail.
The army operation towards Oseguera follows a stress marketing campaign from the Trump administration on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s authorities to ramp up its crackdown on drug trafficking, together with US threats to intervene instantly in Mexico.
“The operation for his arrest was led by the Protection Ministry, and he ended up being killed,” a authorities supply accustomed to the operation advised Reuters.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau mentioned Oseguera’s killing was a “nice improvement” for the US and Mexico, in addition to the remainder of Latin America.
The kingpin’s killing notches a serious victory for Mexico’s warfare on drug cartels which can be accountable for smuggling billions of {dollars} in cocaine and fentanyl into the US It is usually anticipated to unleash a wave of violence throughout Mexico.
“An amazing quantity of violence goes to occur,” mentioned Vanda Felbab-Brown, an skilled on worldwide organized crime.
She in contrast Oseguera to different key drug figures taken down in recent times, Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, each of the rival Sinaloa cartel.
“Other than the heads of the Sinaloa cartel, El Mencho has been the most important prize for a lot of, a few years.”
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro urged residents to remain house till the state of affairs was introduced below management, and the US embassy suggested its residents to shelter in place.
Movies on social media confirmed vehicles ablaze, sending darkish smoke into the sky, on roads in Jalisco. Mexican media shops reported burning autos and gunmen blocking highways in additional than half a dozen states throughout the nation, significantly within the north and west.
Air Canada mentioned on Sunday it quickly suspended operations in Jalisco’s Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast, a well-liked seaside resort for Canadians and People.
