President Claudia Sheinbaum mentioned there’s a “higher calm” in Mexico on Monday, a day after violence ignited within the nation following the killing of the drug lord generally known as “El Mencho.”
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the chief of the Jalisco New Technology Cartel, was killed in an operation led by Mexican authorities on Sunday in Jalisco, Mexican officers mentioned.
Widespread cartel-organized violence erupted following his loss of life, with automobiles set on hearth, lots of of highway blockages and assaults on fuel stations and companies, in accordance with Mexican authorities.
Muicipal police vans stay subsequent to a burning bus set on hearth by organised crime teams in response to an operation in Jalisco to arrest a high-priority safety goal, in Zapopan, state of Jalisco, Mexico, Feb. 22, 2026.
Ulises Ruiz/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
“Immediately there may be higher calm,” Sheinbaum mentioned throughout a press briefing Monday. “The general public can relaxation assured that peace, safety, and normalcy are being safeguarded throughout the nation.”
Sheinbaum mentioned that as of Monday morning, there are now not any blockades and “regular exercise has largely been restored.”
Oseguera Cervantes was some of the wished criminals in each Mexico and the US. He was one of many high traffickers of fentanyl into the U.S., and final 12 months President Donald Trump designated the Jalisco New Technology Cartel as a International Terrorist Group, the White Home mentioned.
When Mexican forces moved in to arrest him on Sunday, “El Mencho’s safety element opened hearth,” Mexico’s Secretary of Nationwide Protection Ricardo Trevilla Trejo mentioned Monday.
El Mencho “fled the placement, abandoning a bunch closely armed,” Trevilla mentioned. “The assault by organized crime members was extraordinarily violent.”
Mexican particular forces members continued to pursue El Mencho and finally had been capable of injure him and two of the bodyguards with him, in accordance with Trevilla.
El Mencho and the 2 bodyguards died throughout the helicopter evacuation flight that was heading in direction of a medical facility in Jalisco, Trevilla added.
Nationwide Guard members stand guard close to a burnt bus set on hearth by organised crime teams in response to an operation in Jalisco to arrest a high-priority safety goal, within the state of Jalisco, Mexico, Feb. 22, 2026.
Ulises Ruiz/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
In the end, 25 members of the Mexican Nationwide Guard and 30 cartel members had been killed in Jalisco, Mexican officers mentioned. 4 cartel members had been additionally killed in Michoacan, officers mentioned.
Amongst these killed was a “principal confidant” of El Mencho in Jalisco who was “coordinating highway blockades, car burnings, and assaults on army and authorities services,” Trevilla mentioned.
Seventy cartel members have been detained throughout seven states, Mexican officers mentioned Monday.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico on Monday continued to induce People in areas all through Mexico to shelter in place because of “ongoing safety operations and associated highway blockages and legal exercise.”
“Whereas no airports have been closed, roadblocks have impacted airline operations, with most home and worldwide flights cancelled in each Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta,” the U.S. Embassy mentioned in a security alert. “All experience shares are suspended in Puerto Vallarta. Some companies have suspended operations.”
