WASHINGTON: The killing of Mexico’s most wanted cartel leader has triggered violent unrest across the country, leaving highways blocked, vehicles torched, and American tourists stranded in resort cities, including Puerto Vallarta.
Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was killed Sunday in a Mexican military operation that US officials said was aided by American intelligence.
The Washington Post reported that “It was CIA intelligence that made this happen, ” citing a person familiar with the matter.
Mexico’s Defence Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said eight members of the cartel were killed in the operation. The killing set off what officials described as coordinated retaliation.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the cartel “quickly gave security forces a taste of its power Sunday when gunmen closed roads across Mexico and burned vehicles, sending black plumes of smoke across the skies, including in Puerto Vallarta”.