Fox News reported that President Donald Trump’s administration handed Mexico intelligence support to help bring down Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which started operating in 2009.
The cartel is a top supplier of fentanyl.
Mexican authorities injured Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” in his home as they attempted to capture him in Tapalpa, Jalisco. He later died as they tried to fly him to Mexico City.
The State Department had a $15 million bounty on Cervantes.
Ben wrote about the chaos that emerged in Mexico after Cervantes death.
The State Department expanded the “shelter in place” declaration for Americans in Mexico.
The original declaration included Jalisco state (Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara), Tamaulipas state (Reynosa and other municipalities), and areas of Michoacan state, Guerrero state, and Nuevo Leon state
The department added Baja California state (Tijuana, Tecate, and Ensenada), Quintana Roo state (Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum), and Sinaloa, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Zacatecas.
Mexican Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla said the intelligence “came from a romantic partner of the crime boss.” It all started on February 20:
On Feb. 20, a close associate of El Mencho, who was known to the Mexican military, delivered one of the kingpin Oseguera Cervantes’ romantic partners to a property in Tapalpa. She met with her secretive boyfriend, stayed overnight and left the property on Feb. 21, Trevilla Trejo said.El Mencho stayed behind, with his personal security detail.Mexican Army and National Guard special forces planned the operation on Feb. 21, positioning troops in nearby states to catch him by surprise. Mexico readied Army and National Guard ground troops and Air Force troops piloting six helicopters.Ground troops moved in Feb. 22, under cover of darkness. The intention, Trevilla Trejo said, was to “detain” El Mencho. From intelligence, the defense minister said the military knew the kingpin’s security detail was heavily armed – outfitted with long arms and rocket launchers – and troops planned for a siege.As they approached, a firefight ensued between the armed guards and the Mexican military that left eight cartel members dead.
Cervantes fled to some cabins in a wooded area outside of Tapala. He didn’t make it before special forces discovered him in the brush with bodyguards.
Trejo said Cervantes and the bodyguards opened fire, forcing the special forces to fire back:
Then: Special forces wounded Oseguera Cervantes and his two bodyguards. One Mexican military officer was also wounded.The four men were “gravely injured,” Trevilla Trejo said, “and needed to be evacuated.” Oseguera Cervantes, the two bodyguards and the unnamed military officer all died as they were being evacuated by helicopter to a medical facility in Jalisco, the defense minister said.
Mexican officials said the violence led to the deaths of 25 Mexican National Guard troops and over two dozen criminal suspects:
Mexico Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said the troops in Jalisco were killed in six separate attacks following the killing of Oseguera Cervantes during a shootout inside his home as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. He also said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco and four others were killed in Michoacan.García Harfuch added that a prison guard, an agent from the state prosecutor’s office and a woman whom he did not identify were also killed.
Mexican authorities said they have cleared over “250 roadblocks across 20 states.”
[Featured image via YouTube]
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