25 Mexican National Guard soldiers killed in Jalisco after the murder of the notorious cartel leader

Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Monday that 25 members of the National Guard were killed in Jalisco in six separate attacks after the Murder of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes — known as “El Mencho” – was the head of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States and for organizing brazen attacks against government officials who questioned him.

He died during a shootout in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican army attempted to capture him.

A source briefed on the operation told News themezone that the raid was the culmination of intensified U.S.-Mexico cooperation against cartels under Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, with intelligence sharing notably expanded in recent months through newly emphasized joint interagency channels linked to U.S. Northern Command. The source described a “synergy of efforts” in which Mexican special forces executed the mission while US personnel provided intelligence and operational advice from outside Mexico.

Cartel members They responded with violence across the country, blocking roads and setting vehicles on fire.

Mexican Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had tracked one of Oseguera Cervantes’ romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa, Jalisco.

Army and National Guard special forces arrived Sunday morning and immediately came under heavy fire. Eight gunmen died there. Oseguera Cervantes and two bodyguards fled to a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a shootout, Trevilla said. They were airlifted along with a wounded soldier, but El Mencho and his bodyguards died on the way to Mexico City, he said.

Elsewhere in Jalisco, soldiers also killed another high-ranking cartel member who Trevilla said was coordinating the violence and offering more than $1,000 for each soldier killed.

A prison guard, an agent from the state prosecutor’s office and a woman whom García Harfuch did not identify were also murdered. He also said that about 30 alleged criminals were murdered in Jalisco and another four in Michoacán.

Several Mexican states canceled classes on Monday, and local and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay home after widespread violence broke out.

Sheinbaum urged calm Monday and authorities said more than 250 cartel roadblocks in 20 states had been cleared. The president was expected to address the situation at her daily press conference on Monday morning.

Mexico hoped the deaths of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease pressure from the Trump administration to do more against the cartels, but many remained hunched and nervous as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.

Fears of more violence

The US Embassy said via X that its staff in eight cities and the state of Michoacán would shelter in place and work remotely on Monday, and warned US citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same. The State Department of Consular Affairs, in a message asking U.S. citizens to continue sheltering in place, said on social media that taxi and ride-sharing service had been suspended in Puerto Vallarta.

Cars began rolling through Guadalajara before dawn Monday with the start of the work week, a notable change from Sunday, when the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico’s second-largest city was almost completely closed as fearful residents stayed home.

More than 1,000 people were trapped overnight at the Guadalajara zoo, sleeping on buses. On Monday morning, mothers wrapped in blankets took their young children off the buses to go to the bathroom, a much-needed break, while police trucks monitored the area.

Luis Soto Rendón, director of the zoo, said many had been trapped there since 9 a.m. the previous day, when violence broke out in Jalisco and surrounding states. Families were left stranded, trying to distract their children, as they decided they could not return to their homes in nearby states such as Zacatecas and Michoacán.

“We decided to allow people to stay inside the zoo for their safety,” Soto said. “There are little children and older people.”

Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, arrived for work early Monday morning.

He normally takes public transportation to work, but the buses weren’t running and he had no way to get across town. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. His family, he said, was staying home, too scared to leave.

“I’m worried because I don’t know how to get home if something happens,” she said.

Passengers arriving at the city’s international airport on Sunday night were told it was operating with limited staff due to the outbreak of violence.

Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacán and Guanajuato reported that at least 14 more people died on Sunday, including seven members of the National Guard.

Videos circulating on social media on Sunday showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking along the beach as smoke billowed in the distance.

Coup against cartel could be diplomatic coup

David Mora, a Mexico analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the capture and outbreak of violence mark a turning point in Sheinbaum’s attempt to take down the cartels and ease pressures from the United States.

President Trump has demanded Mexico do more to combat smuggling of the often deadly drug fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country fails to show results.

On Monday, Trump called on Mexico to step up its efforts against drug cartels a day after the military raid.

“Mexico must intensify its efforts against cartels and drugs!” he wrote in a social media post.

There were early signs that Mexico’s efforts were well received by the United States.

U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson acknowledged the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement Sunday night. He added that “under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”

But it could also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to the CJNG, Mora said.

“This could be a time when those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to take advantage of the opportunity to expand control and gain control over the Jalisco Cartel in those states,” he said.

“Since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the military has been much more confrontational and combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora said. “This is a signal to the United States that if we continue to cooperate and share intelligence, Mexico can do it. We do not need American troops on Mexican soil.”

“El Mencho” was a major target

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. Oseguera Cervantes offered a reward of 15 million dollars on his head.

During the operation, troops were attacked and four people were killed on the spot. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were injured and later died, according to the statement.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in X that the US government provided intelligence support for the operation. “‘El Mencho’ was a primary target for the governments of Mexico and the United States as one of the main traffickers of fentanyl to our homeland,” he wrote. He praised the Mexican army for its work.

The Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.

“El Mencho” was “the number one priority for the DEA and, frankly, for federal law enforcement in the United States,” Matthew Donahue, the top DEA agent in Mexico, told News themezone in 2019.

In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

Sheinbaum has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that eliminated cartel leaders, only to trigger explosions of violence as the cartels fractured. While he has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since President Trump took office a year ago, he has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.

The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive in its attacks against the army (including helicopters) and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, he 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’s police and now federal security secretary.