Authorities reported roadblocks, arson and attacks across 20 states after the operation.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Mexican authorities said the military killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the cartel boss known as “El Mencho,” during a raid Sunday in Jalisco state, setting off hours of retaliatory violence that snarled highways, shuttered businesses and shook tourist areas along the Pacific coast.
The death of Oseguera Cervantes, 59, removed the top leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, a group that both Mexican and U.S. officials have described as a major fentanyl trafficker. The operation quickly became a political and security test for President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, which has faced heavy pressure from Washington to show results against cartels while insisting Mexico will not accept foreign troops on its soil. By Monday, officials said they had cleared hundreds of cartel roadblocks, but the scale of the backlash left families across western Mexico bracing for more unrest and a possible fight inside the cartel over who takes control.
Mexico’s Defense Department said troops moved to capture Oseguera Cervantes Sunday in Tapalpa, a mountainous area about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara. The department said soldiers came under fire and returned fire at the site, leaving four people dead there. The statement said three more people were wounded and later died, including Oseguera Cervantes. Officials said the cartel leader was seriously wounded and died while being flown to Mexico City. On Sunday afternoon, authorities moved his body in a heavily guarded convoy after it arrived in the capital, according to reports from the scene. President Sheinbaum praised the security forces and urged calm in a message posted on social media, while promising more information about the operation.
As word spread, armed groups mounted what authorities described as coordinated reprisals. Officials said cartel members set vehicles and businesses on fire and used burning cars to block roads at more than 250 points across 20 states. In Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, streets emptied as many residents stayed indoors, and some states canceled school Monday. A Jalisco state official said a National Guard member died in Tapalpa during the operation, six more Guard members died in Zapopan, and a jail guard was killed in Puerto Vallarta during a riot by prisoners. The same official said an agent from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office was killed in Guadalajara. Elsewhere, authorities in Jalisco, Michoacán and Guanajuato reported at least 14 dead, including seven National Guard troops, as the violence spread into neighboring states.
Federal officials offered additional detail Monday as the government tried to project control. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said 25 National Guard members were killed in six separate attacks after the raid. He also said about 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco and four more were killed in Michoacán. Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said special forces moved in Sunday morning and immediately faced heavy fire, and he said eight gunmen were killed at the initial site. Trevilla said Oseguera Cervantes and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area before they were seriously wounded in a firefight. Trevilla said authorities had tracked one of Oseguera Cervantes’ romantic partners to the hideout in Tapalpa, a detail that underscored the long hunt for a leader who had avoided capture for years.
The upheaval quickly reached places that depend on travel and commerce. Videos posted online showed dark smoke rising near Puerto Vallarta, a beach destination that draws Mexican and foreign tourists. Some passengers ran through an airport in panic as information spread about roadblocks outside the city, according to footage from the area. Airlines announced suspensions and cancellations of flights to Puerto Vallarta because of security concerns, adding to the disruption for travelers. In Guadalajara, authorities reported burning vehicles blocking major roads, and businesses closed in a city scheduled to host soccer matches this summer. By Monday morning, traffic began to move again in parts of Guadalajara as the workweek started, but many stores remained closed or served customers behind barriers.
U.S. officials said the United States provided intelligence support for the operation, and the White House commended Mexico’s military for carrying it out. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on social media that the cartel leader had been a top target for both governments and tied the operation to efforts to curb fentanyl trafficking. The U.S. State Department previously offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Oseguera Cervantes’ arrest, and U.S. authorities have long identified CJNG as one of the country’s fastest-growing criminal organizations. In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization, a step that intensified the focus on CJNG’s cross-border reach.
The killing revived a debate inside Mexico over the “kingpin” approach to cartel violence. Sheinbaum has criticized earlier strategies that decapitated cartel leadership only to trigger splintering and surges of violence, and her government has tried to balance aggressive operations with pledges to reduce killings. Analysts said Sunday’s raid signaled a more confrontational posture by the army and was meant, in part, to show the United States that Mexican forces can carry out major actions with shared intelligence rather than foreign troops. Still, security experts warned that CJNG’s size and internal structure could lead to a scramble for power that spills into more shootings and blockades, especially in Jalisco and surrounding states where the cartel has deep roots and financial interests.
For residents, the most immediate question was whether the worst had passed. In Guadalajara, more than 1,000 people spent the night at the city’s zoo, sleeping on buses as police vehicles guarded the area, according to officials and witnesses. Families left at daybreak with children wrapped in blankets, while others waited outside pharmacies and grocery stores for basic supplies as businesses reopened slowly. Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus said the state was “living through critical hours” and suspended public transportation as the violence unfolded. Mexico’s government said by Monday that all of the roadblocks had been cleared, but officials cautioned that investigations continued into the attacks that killed Guard members and that security forces would remain deployed.
By late Monday, the government said traffic and public activity were returning in some cities, even as officials warned that the investigation into the attacks and the fight for CJNG leadership could bring new violence in coming days.
Author note: Last updated February 23, 2026.