Mexican Cartel Head Killed, Violence Erupts

Parts of the Mexican state of Jalisco remain in lockdown this morning, and plumes of black smoke are rising over the city of Puerto Vallarta as drug cartel members react to yesterday’s military killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes by the Mexican military. Better known as El Mencho, Oseguera was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

• Multiple reports from Mexican authorities and international news sources say United States agencies and military departments provided intelligence support for the operation to capture El Mencho in the town of Tapalpa.

A gunfight between his bodyguards and the military commandos deployed to capture him erupted. Oseguera was wounded, and he died while being airlifted to Mexico City for medical treatment.

Members of his cartel launched attacks in many towns spread across the 20 Mexican states where the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is active. They blocked roads by throwing spikes and nails onto the pavement and setting vehicles ablaze. They are specifically targeting banks, businesses and pharmacies to cause the most damage to Mexican society.

• The street battles between members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Mexican authorities resemble the battles that broke out in 2019, when authorities arrested the son of jailed Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. These battles grew so intense that the Mexican government released the son to prevent further bloodshed.

Sober reminder: Mexican drug cartels are in a cold war with law-abiding Mexican people and their leaders—and they are winning. The scenes in Jalisco right now—blocked roads, grounded flights, fearful Mexican citizens and foreign tourists sheltering in place—are intended to remind the world that the cartels are extremely powerful and capable of instantly causing massive damage and bloodshed.

• Drug cartels control up to 40 percent of Mexican territory, employ around 185,000 active members, engage in advanced and extensive criminal activity, and use savage mafia-style threats and violence. The clashes between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Mexican authorities resemble a civil war more than a traditional law enforcement operation.

Historical analysis of the Mexican drug war indicates that more than 40,000 people died between 2006 and 2020. The potential for tens of thousands or more to be killed in the coming years is painfully evident right now.

About 55 percent of all Mexican homicides and 7 percent of all U.S. homicides are related to drug trafficking. Conservatives say this problem can be fixed by building a border wall and waging war on the cartels, but the truth is that towns are burning and people are being shot because a spiritual sickness has taken root throughout North America. Americans demand what the cartels supply.