Mexico fears extra violence as vacationers warned and faculties closed following killing of highly effective Cartel boss | EUROtoday

School was canceled in a number of Mexican states and native and overseas governments alike warned their residents to remain inside, as widespread violence erupted following the military’s killing of the highly effective chief of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, generally known as “El Mencho” was the boss of one of many fastest-growing legal networks in Mexico, infamous for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen assaults towards authorities officers who challenged it.

He was killed throughout a shoot-out in his dwelling state of Jalisco because the Mexican navy tried to seize him. Cartel members responded with violence throughout the nation, blocking roads and setting hearth to autos.

President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm and authorities introduced late Sunday that they had cleared many of the greater than 250 cartel roadblocks throughout 20 states. The White House confirmed that the U.S. offered intelligence help to the operation to seize the cartel chief and applauded Mexico’s military for taking down a person who was some of the wished criminals in each nations.

Mexico hoped the demise of the world’s largest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration strain to do extra towards the cartels, however many remained hunkered down and on edge as they waited to see the highly effective cartel’s response.

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Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico’s second-largest metropolis, was nearly fully shut down on Sunday as fearful residents stayed dwelling.

Passengers arriving to the town’s worldwide airport Sunday evening had been instructed it was working with restricted personnel due to the burst of violence.

Jacinta Murcia, a 64-year-old vitamin merchandise vendor, was amongst these nervously strolling late Sunday evening by way of the airport, the place earlier within the day vacationers sprinted and ducked behind chairs fearing violence. Most flights into the town had been suspended on Sunday.

Guadalajara mapped:

Murcia anxiously scrolled by way of information tales on social media exhibiting the face of “El Mencho” and sent messages to her children, who were tracking her location as she tried to travel across the city to her house after dark.

“My plan today leaving the airport is to see if there are any taxis, but I’m scared of everything. That there are blockades, that there’s a curfew, that something could happen,” she said. “I’m all alone.”

Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at least 14 other people killed Sunday, including seven National Guard troops.

Videos circulating on social media showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke rising in the distance.

In another part of the airport a group of elderly Mexicans gathered, discussing how to get home.

“We better all go together,” one stated. “Go with God.”

David Mora, Mexico analyst for International Crisis Group, stated the seize and outburst of violence marks a degree of inflection in Sheinbaum’s push to crack down on cartels and relieve U.S. pressures.

U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do extra to battle the smuggling of the often-deadly drug fentanyl, threatening to impose extra tariffs or take unilateral navy motion if the nation doesn’t present outcomes.

There had been early indicators that Mexico’s efforts had been properly acquired by the United States.

U.S. Amb. Ron Johnson acknowledged the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in an announcement late Sunday. He added that “under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”

But it could additionally pave the way in which for extra violence as rival legal teams benefit from the blow dealt to the CJNG, Mora stated.

“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity for them to expand control and to gain control over Cartel Jalisco in those states,” he stated.

“Ever since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora stated. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it, we don’t need U.S. troops on Mexican soil.”

Oseguera Cervantes, who was wounded in the operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement.

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.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via X that the U.S. government provided intelligence support for the operation. “‘El Mencho’ was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,” she wrote. She counseled Mexico’s navy for its work.

The U.S. State Department had supplied a reward of as much as $15 million for info resulting in the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is without doubt one of the strongest and quickest rising legal organizations in Mexico and commenced working round 2009.

In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a overseas terrorist group.

Sheinbaum has criticized the “kingpin” technique of earlier administrations that took out cartel leaders, solely to set off explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained in style in Mexico, safety is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took workplace a yr in the past, she has been below great strain to point out outcomes towards drug trafficking.

The Jalisco cartel has been some of the aggressive cartels in its assaults on the navy — together with on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and putting in mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination try with grenades and high-powered rifles within the coronary heart of Mexico City towards the then head of the capital’s police power and now federal safety secretary.