In the hours after Mexico's most wanted drug cartel leader was shot and killed in a special forces raid, vehicles were set alight to block major roads and shopfronts were torched in a show of retaliation in eight states.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known by his alias "El Mencho", was "seriously injured" in a gunfight between military personnel and members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) on Sunday, the Mexican Defense Department announced.
He died while being airlifted to Mexico City, authorities said.
While Mexican authorities and the Trump administration in the United States applauded the efforts of soldiers involved, Oseguera Cervantes's death will likely have no impact on Mexico's multinational drug trade or curb violence, according to multiple experts.
Inside the operation to eliminate Mexico's biggest drug lord
The daylight operation to target and detain Oseguera Cervantes was spearheaded by Mexico's National Intelligence Center, Special Forces military unit, air force and national guard, authorities said.
The raid focused on the mountain town of Talpalpa, about 130 kilometres south-west of the city of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco.
Soldiers were attacked by cartel members during the operation and had to fight back, Mexico's Defense Department said in a statement.
[DW Tapalpa]The ensuing crossfire resulted in three cartel members being shot dead. Three other cartel members were injured, including El Mencho, later died while being flown to Mexico City. Three soldiers were also injured.
Another two cartel members were detained while the military seized armoured vehicles and weaponry including rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft.
The operation came after months of increasing pressure from the Trump administration on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's government to ramp up a crackdown on drug trafficking.
Before El Mencho's death, the US State Department had offered a reward of up to $US15 million ($21 million) for information that led to his arrest.
Hours after the raid, Trump administration press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the US had provided "intelligence support" to Mexico for the operation.
"'El Mencho' was a was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland," Ms Leavitt said in a statement on X.
"Last year, President Trump rightfully designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization — because that's exactly what it is."
After the news of El Mencho's death began to circulate, cartel henchmen blockaded highways with burning cars and torched businesses in more than a half a dozen states, paralysing parts of the country.
[DW Travel advisories]In Jalisco's popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, frightened tourists on social media described a "war zone" as plumes of dark smoke rose into the sky from around the bay.
At Puerto Vallarta airport, reports of armed cartel members storming a terminal building and passengers filmed sprinting away sparked further panic.
Major airlines such as Air Canada, United Airlines, Aeromexico and American Airlines all suspended flights in the area.
The US Embassy in Mexico also issued its own security alert, telling US citizens and consulate staff in 10 different cities to seek shelter.
Australia also updated its travel advice for Mexico in the hours after El Mencho's death, urging people to "exercise a high degree of caution in Mexico overall due to the threat of violent crime".
"Serious security incidents have been reported across the state of Jalisco, including in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, following a federal law-enforcement operation against organised crime," Smartraveller advised on Monday.
"Authorities in Puerto Vallarta have issued a public advisory to shelter in place … Security incidents have also been reported in other parts of Mexico, including Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero, and Nuevo Leon.
"We also continue to advise reconsider your need to travel to the states of Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Guanajuato, Sonora, Colima and Chiapas."
Who was El Mencho?
Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was a former police officer originally from Aguililla in the state of Michoacan, located alongside Jalisco. His alias, El Mencho, roughly translates to "the one with bad taste".
He had been significantly involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s.
When he was younger, he migrated to the US and was convicted in 1994 of conspiracy to distribute heroin in California.
He served nearly three years in prison.
After his release, he returned to Mexico and resumed drug trafficking under the drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, known as "Nacho Coronel".
After Villarreal's death, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, known as "El 85", formed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel around 2007.
Initially, the pair worked for the Sinaloa Cartel, but eventually split and for years the two cartels have battled for control of territory across Mexico.
The Jalisco cartel has since become of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines.
The US Drug Enforcement Agency considers the cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, with a presence in all 50 US states.
It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the US market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines.
The cartel, which consists of up to 20,000 members, also generates billions of dollars in revenue annually by trafficking drugs into Australia, Canada and to parts of Africa, Asia, Central and South America, according to the office of the US Director of National Intelligence.
The Sinaloa cartel was weakened by infighting after the loss of its leaders Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who are both in US custody.
Under El Mencho's leadership, the CJNG became a highly diversified criminal enterprise, expanding from drug trafficking to fuel theft, extortion, human smuggling and complex financial frauds.
The cartel pioneered the use of drones in attacks against civilians in remote regions of western Mexico as part of its rapid territorial expansion.
In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt using grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City.
The target was the then-head of the capital's police force and now federal security secretary.
Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Could El Mencho's death spark a cartel turf war in Mexico?
UNSW Latin America expert Anthea McCarthy-Jones said while the killing of a drug cartel leader often drew public attention, El Mencho's death was unlikely to significantly disrupt the his cartel's trafficking trade.
"What we've seen in the past is that the removal of the kingpin doesn't necessarily affect significant network disruption," she told the ABC.
"The actual fundamental, valuable parts of the network that allow the Jaslico cartel to be this global drug trafficking organisation that has reaches into all four corners of the world isn't actually relying on the single leadership of El Mencho.
"The removal of the leader doesn't actually have any impact on the day-to-day relations and the relationships that actually facilitate this kind of global drug trafficking operation."
Instead, she said the car fires and road blockades that appeared in the hours after El Mencho's death could be seen as a show of strength and influence among CJNG members.
"The violence in different parts of Mexico is the cartel trying to show that whilst they may have had their leader removed, they haven't been weakened," she said.
"It's obviously a way of them trying to promote their brand and reputation, which is that they have a significant amount of force present across Mexico."
Dr McCarthy-Jones said parts of Mexico could continue to be gripped by violence for months to come if the CJNG's succession process to replace El Mencho does not run smoothly.
"If there is a consensus within the cartel as to who will step into El Mencho's place … then obviously you can see quite a smooth transition and the potential for the Jalisco cartel to basically continue business as usual," she said.
"If there's a lot of discontent about who should be taking up the leadership position and if you have an organisation that is fractured into sub-groups — as we saw was the case in the Sinaloa cartel when El Chapo was removed — what you'll have is different groups starting to vie for power.
"That will actually see a weakening potentially of the cartel itself, if these types of groups start engaging in conflict with each other for control of the cartel.
"That will almost certainly mean this type of violence will spill out into the streets of Mexico."
Professor Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a transnational crime and terrorism expert from Mexico City, agreed.
"This group was fighting for the control of territory … Other groups are trying to establish control over that territory," she said.
"That is the mainstream explanation for why, after the capture of the leadership of these criminal groups, you have immediately very high level of violence."
The acts of violence across the country come months before Mexico is due to co-host the FIFA World Cup with the US and Canada.
Dr McCarthy-Jones said the global event could provide the Mexican government with motivation to crack down on cartels with more force.
"It's not actually in the cartels' interests to continue this type of violence," she said.
"The more they do that to the Mexican state in the lead up to such an important international event, the more the Mexican state is seriously going to consider help from the outside.
"You will see more intense, direct conflict between Mexican armed forces and the cartels.
"In wanting to protect Mexico's reputation, its population and its capacity to host really important international events, the Mexican government is going to really want to make sure that this is put under control pretty quickly."
ABC/Wires
