This aerial view shows burned cars and trucks, allegedly set on fire by organised crime groups in response to an operation to arrest a high-priority security target, on a highway near Acatlan de Juarez, Jalisco state, Mexico on February 22.
Image: Ulises Ruiz / AFP
Battles between cartels and security officials have broken out in multiple cities across Mexico after a top drug kingpin was killed by the military.
On Sunday, Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defence announced that its special forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Cervantes died from his wounds as a result of a military operation to capture Tapalpa.
The cartel responded by blocking roads and attacking patrol vehicles. Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro declared a state of emergency. The violence has quickly spread to the states of Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Colima, and Oaxaca.
Videos posted to social media show burning vehicles and gunmen on the streets. All flights in and out of the airports of Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara have been suspended.
Graphic videos from the scene show wounded security officials and destroyed patrol vehicles, as well as bodies lying on the ground.
Footage from inside Guadalajara Airport, Mexico’s third largest, shows people running in fear as gunshots go off in the distance.
Another video shows armed men in body armor pulling up to a gas station in Guadalajara and setting it ablaze.
The US Embassy in Mexico has issued a security alert for the country, urging US citizens to seek shelter, avoid crowds and be careful.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged residents to remain calm and stay informed. “In the vast majority of the country, activities are proceeding normally,” she wrote on X.
A US defence official told CBS News that the US played a role in the raid against El Mencho through a joint anti-cartel task force set up by the Mexican military and the US Northern Command. The official described the raid as “a Mexican military operation.”