{"id":485623,"date":"2026-02-23T11:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/485623\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T11:55:09","slug":"mexico-fears-more-violence-after-army-kills-jalisco-cartels-powerful-el-mencho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/485623\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexico fears more violence after army kills Jalisco cartel’s powerful ‘El Mencho’"},"content":{"rendered":"

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) \u2014 School was canceled in several Mexican states and local and foreign governments alike warned their citizens to stay inside, as widespread violence erupted following the army\u2019s killing of the powerful leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nemesio Rub\u00e9n Oseguera Cervantes, known as \u201cEl Mencho\u201d was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it.<\/p>\n

He was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. Cartel members responded with violence across the country, blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.<\/p>\n

President Claudia Sheinbaum<\/a> urged calm and authorities announced late Sunday they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states. The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico\u2019s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.<\/p>\n

Mexico hoped the death of the world\u2019s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many remained hunkered down and on edge as they waited to see the powerful cartel\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n

Many fear more violence<\/p>\n

Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico\u2019s second-largest city, was almost completely shut down on Sunday as fearful residents stayed home.<\/p>\n

Passengers arriving to the city\u2019s international airport Sunday night were told it was operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence.<\/p>\n

Jacinta Murcia, a 64-year-old nutrition products vendor, was among those nervously walking late Sunday night through the airport, where earlier in the day travelers sprinted and ducked behind chairs fearing violence. Most flights into the city were suspended on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Murcia anxiously scrolled through news stories on social media showing the face of \u201cEl Mencho\u201d and sent messages to her children, who were tracking her location as she tried to travel across the city to her house after dark.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy plan today leaving the airport is to see if there are any taxis, but I\u2019m scared of everything. That there are blockades, that there\u2019s a curfew, that something could happen,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m all alone.\u201d <\/p>\n

Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at least 14 other people killed Sunday, including seven National Guard troops.<\/p>\n

Videos circulating on social media showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke rising in the distance. <\/p>\n

In another part of the airport a group of elderly Mexicans gathered, discussing how to get home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe better all go together,\u201d one said. \u201cGo with God.\u201d <\/p>\n

A blow against a cartel could be a diplomatic coup<\/p>\n

David Mora, Mexico analyst for International Crisis Group, said the capture and outburst of violence marks a point of inflection in Sheinbaum\u2019s push to crack down on cartels and relieve U.S. pressures.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of the often-deadly drug fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs<\/a> or take unilateral military action<\/a> if the country does not show results.<\/p>\n

There were early signs that Mexico\u2019s efforts were well received by the United States.<\/p>\n

U.S. Amb. Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. He added that \u201cunder the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it may also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to the CJNG, Mora said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,\u201d Mora said. \u201cThis is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it, we don\u2019t need U.S. troops on Mexican soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018El Mencho\u2019 was a major target<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes<\/a>, were wounded and later died, the statement said. <\/p>\n

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via X that the U.S. government provided intelligence support for the operation. \u201c\u2018El Mencho\u2019 was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,\u201d she wrote. She commended Mexico\u2019s military for its work. <\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel<\/a> is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.<\/p>\n

In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

Sheinbaum has criticized the \u201ckingpin\u201d strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders, only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military \u2014 including on helicopters \u2014 and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines<\/a>. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital\u2019s police force and now federal security secretary.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Mar\u00eda Verza contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) \u2014 School was canceled in several Mexican states and local and foreign governments alike warned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,1927,14271,11981,223407,12,22046,22048,793,2026,223406,17153,3140,26,20445,1576,223405,3,111,29952,232,1924,21,792,19,22,20,25,24,965],"class_list":{"0":"post-485623","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-central-america","11":"tag-claudia-sheinbaum","12":"tag-david-mora","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-drug-cartels","15":"tag-drug-crimes","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-international-news","18":"tag-jacinta-murcia","19":"tag-karoline-leavitt","20":"tag-latin-america","21":"tag-mexico","22":"tag-mexico-government","23":"tag-military-and-defense","24":"tag-nemesio-rubn-oseguera-cervantes","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-politics","27":"tag-ronald-johnson","28":"tag-schools","29":"tag-u-s-department-of-state","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-united-states-government","32":"tag-united-states-of-america","33":"tag-unitedstates","34":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","35":"tag-us","36":"tag-usa","37":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}