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Rocket launchers capable of shooting down planes were among the arsenal seized by Mexican military forces in the daring raid that killed notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel boss “El Mencho.”
Special forces also seized armored cars and heavy weaponry – which are often used on the battlefield rather than in law enforcement missions — as drug kingpin Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes was killed and the resort town of Puerto Vallarta fell under siege.
The Mexican Air Force and National Guard also assisted special forces in Sunday’s probe, according to Fox News.
Although the op was led by the Mexican military, a US military-led task force specializing in intelligence collection also played a role in “El Mencho’s” killing, as reported by Reuters.
A dossier – containing information from US intelligence – was handed over to the Mexican government before the operation that was conducted in Tapalpa. “El Mencho” was at the top of a list of US targets.
Rocket launchers were seized more than 10 years after the powerful cartel used a rocket-propelled grenade to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter.
The weapons had previously been seized from the CJNG cartel. In June 2023, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, the then-Mexican defense secretary, said five rocket launchers were found to be in the possession of the CJNG.
Ex-cop and cartel mastermind “El Mencho” was injured during a shootout when Mexican special forces tried to capture him in Tapalpa. Security forces were injured in the shootout.
“El Mencho” was notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the US and a reward of up to $15 million was available for information leading to the drug lord’s arrest.
The Trump administration declared the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization
Narco gangs went on a rampage after news of El Mencho’s death circulated. Cartel henchmen blockaded highways with roadblocks, set cars ablaze and torched businesses as part of their retaliation over the crime boss’s death.
Tourists in Puerto Vallarta were warned to stay indoors, and assaults in Michoacan, Tamaulipas, Colima, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, and Veracruz were launched, according to local media.
“It looked like the whole city was on fire,” Scott Posilkin – who is from Colorado but stranded in Puerto Vallarta – told The Post.
Travis Dagenais compared the scene in Puerto Vallarta to a “demolition zone,” as reported by CNN.
A woman, known only as Priscilla, said she saw several cartel members set cars on fire in Tepic,
Shelter-in-place orders meant she couldn’t reach her son — who was around 20 minutes from her hotel as he was at his cousin’s house.
Major airlines, including United Airlines, American, and Air Canada suspended flights into Puerto Vallarta. Most flights into Guadalajara – Jalisco’s state capital and Mexico’s second-largest city – were suspended Sunday.
Video obtained by The Post showed travelers running in horror at Guadalajara airport.
There could now be a power vacuum at the top of the cartel’s ranks, as it’s not clear who could succeed “El Mencho.”
“El Mencho controlled everything, he was like a country’s dictator,” Mike Vigil, the former chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said.
David Saucedo, a top security analyst, feared the cartel group could turn to what he described as “indiscriminate violence.”
With Post wires.
English (US)