National/World Editor
On Feb. 22, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) unleashed mass violence across Mexican cities. The cartel blocked roads, set vehicles on fire, and turned the state capital of Mexico City vacant after the violence. After the army killed its powerful cartel leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the surrounding police in Mexico are attempting to search for numerous inmates who escaped from a prison in Puerto Vallarta, a popular city known for its beach resorts and lively culture. Now in Puerto Vallarta, the CJNG retaliates using their violent tactics due to the death of their leader, and originally broke through the prison during the unrest. Armed members drove into the prison gates with a car, as 23 individuals broke away, as claimed by an official. The operation killed more than 70 people, and among those were twenty-five Mexican National Guard members, to capture El Mencho. The security secretary for the state of Jalisco, Juan Pablo Hernández, claimed that his office was working with other states in order to capture the fugitives; however officials have not yet released the identities of the escaped inmates.
As Puerto Vallarta is a popular tourist destination, locals and visitors saught shelter and did not leave their designated refuges. Behind desired beach resorts, civilian footage recorded black plumes of smoke where major violence began to occur. Several airlines temporarily terminated their flights to Puerto Vallarta, and at least two major cruise lines asserted that they would divert from Puerto Vallarta or skip the planned stops in that location due to safety concerns. Chris Dalby, senior analyst for Dyami Security Intelligence, claimed that “Claudia Sheinbaum is in the first year of her administration. The World Cup is only a few months away and is going to have games played in Guadalajara. I completely understand anyone who has tickets for those games who decides not to go, when four months before the game, they see the city on fire.”
El Mencho was Mexico’s most wanted man, and under his authority, the CJGN became a powerful transnational criminal organization, where it spread drug production and trafficking. In the state of Morelia on Feb. 23, state-sanctioned armed men continued to torch cars and vandalize public buildings and ships, as Morelia is the birthplace of El Mencho. For years, the CJGN has had a prominent presence in Puerto Vallarta, but now, El Mencho’s death is sensitive due to the influx of national sports attractions. Furthermore, the Trump administration previously described El Mencho as a “top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland.” Leading up to his capture and killing, the administration had offered a fifteen-million-dollar reward for information and insight.
(Sources: BBC, CNN, Daily Mail)