<\/p>\n
Mexico Security Secretary Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch said Monday 25 members of the National Guard were left dead in Jalisco in six separate attacks after the killing<\/a><\/span> of Jalisco New Generation Cartel<\/a><\/span> leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.<\/p>\n 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 Also killed were a prison guard, an agent from the state prosecutor\u2019s office and a woman whom Garc\u00eda Harfuch did not identify. He also said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco and four others were killed in Michoacan.<\/p>\n President Claudia Sheinbaum<\/a><\/span> urged calm Monday and authorities said all of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states had been cleared. The president was expected to address the situation at her daily news briefing Monday morning.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and the state of Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday and it warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.<\/p>\n Cars began circulating in Guadalajara before sunrise Monday with the start of the work week, a notable change from Sunday when Jalisco\u2019s state capital and Mexico\u2019s second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.<\/p>\n More than 1,000 people were stuck in Guadalajara\u2019s zoo overnight, sleeping in buses. On Monday morning. mothers wrapped up in blankets carried their toddlers out of the buses for a much-needed bathroom break as police trucks guarded the area.<\/p>\n Luis Soto Rend\u00f3n, the zoo\u2019s director, said many had been trapped there since 9 a.m. the day before, when violence broke out in Jalisco and the surrounding states. Families were left stranded, trying to distract their children, as they decided they couldn\u2019t return home in nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided to let people stay inside the zoo for their safety,\u201d Soto said. \u201cThere are small children and senior citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n Irma Hern\u00e1ndez, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, arrived at work early Monday morning.<\/p>\n She normally takes public transportation to work, but buses were not running and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.<\/p>\n \u201cI am worried because I don\u2019t know how to get home if something happens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Passengers arriving at the city\u2019s international airport Sunday night were told it was operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence.<\/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 Sunday showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke rising in the distance.<\/p>\n A blow against a cartel could be a diplomatic coup<\/strong><\/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><\/span> or take unilateral military action<\/a><\/span> 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. Ambassador 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<\/strong><\/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><\/span>, 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><\/span> 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><\/span>. 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\n\nSeveral Mexican states canceled school on Monday, with local and foreign governments warning their citizens to stay inside after widespread violence erupted.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n![](\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/107e05e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2000x1722+0+0\/resize\/1600x1378!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F25%2F78%2Fc33342ab4170ac92f042c346f6cc%2F8f4c3ea13c9a47688d6b108b7e0295a9.jpg\")