Romantic tryst led to Mexican cartel leader’s capture, death

A tip about drug lord Nemesio Oseguera’s romantic liaisons led Mexican authorities to the cartel leader’s hideout in a small town of Jalisco state where he was killed, Mexican authorities said on Monday in the first account of the ambush that spawned violence across much of Mexico. At least 62 people died in the early Sunday raid on Oseguera, known as “El Mencho,” ‌and in ensuing violence – including 25 members of the National Guard military police and 34 suspected gang members – as cartel loyalists set cars ablaze in 85 roadblocks in more than a dozen states, authorities said. President Claudia Sheinbaum early on ‌Monday said the situation was normalizing and roadblocks were under control.

Still, Mexico beefed up security in Jalisco, the stronghold of Oseguera’s infamous Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), with the deployment of 2,000 troops, and Mexicans as well as tourists in the state’s famed coastal towns fretted over the quick spread of violence to far corners ​of Mexico. Oseguera’s death is a blow to the CJNG, a highly diversified criminal enterprise, and a victory for Mexico’s government after pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on the cartels.

Yet the victory could lead to further violence in a country already grappling with years of killings and disappearances at the hands of organized crime. “Unfortunately, it’s not the first time we’re experiencing this, but this time it does seem a bit more worrying because there’s no successor to these cartels,” said Fabiola Cortes, a schoolteacher in Mexico City. “We hope that, truly, our president does something for us, protects us, because honestly, fear is everywhere on the streets.” Oseguera, Mexico’s most-wanted cartel leader, was the mastermind of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, rival to the also infamous Sinaloa Cartel.

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had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to ‌his arrest. provided intelligence to help pinpoint the exact location of the compound in ⁠the town of Tapalpa where Mexican authorities found the cartel boss, but Mexican officials underscored that they spearheaded the operation. “There was no participation in this operation of U.S.

What there was, was an exchange of information,” President Sheinbaum said. Military operation led to retaliatory surge in violence Oseguera died in a helicopter after being injured in a military operation by Mexican special forces in a wooded area outside the town ⁠of Tapalpa in the western state of Jalisco, according to Mexico’s defence ministry. Defence Minister Ricardo Trevilla said information from a confidante of one of Oseguera’s romantic partners helped officials quickly plan the raid for the following day at the crime boss’ compound.

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