Sawt Falasteen - Violence sweeps Mexico after most-wanted drug cartel leader killed

Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was wounded in a clash with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the army said on Sunday.

He had a $15 million US bounty on his head.

News of his death triggered cartel members across the country to block roads, torch vehicles and businesses and send fearful residents into hiding.

The streets of the state capital Guadalajara were almost empty as stores, pharmacies and gas stations shut down.

Maria Medina, who works in a gas station that was set on fire, said men with guns showed up and told everyone to get out.

"I thought they were going to kidnap us. I ran to a taco stand to take cover with the people there," Medina told AFP.

The violence spread to the neighboring state of Michoacan, where Oseguera's cartel also has a presence, and gripped the resort city of Puerto Vallarta.

- 'Shelter in place' -

Travel warnings from the UK, Canada and the US have been issued in the fallout, with Australia urging citizens to "exercise a degree of caution" early Monday.

The UK Foreign Office advised on Monday against all but essential travel to parts of Mexico, including Jalisco.

Washington asked US citizens to "shelter in place until further notice."

Canada told citizens to keep a "low profile," citing "shootouts with security forces and explosions." Dozens of US and Canadian flights have also been cancelled following the unrest.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged citizens to remain calm.

Oseguera, 59, was considered the last of the drug lords who acted in the flashy, brutal mold of the now-imprisoned Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

With his son Ruben "El Menchito" Oseguera Gonzalez, 35, convicted by a federal jury in Washington in September, experts have warned the "the absence of a direct succession" could lead to a "power vacuum."

"That opens the door to violent realignments within the organization," David Mora, an expert at the Crisis Group analysis center, told AFP.

- US 'intelligence support' -

Mexico said in addition to its own military intelligence, the operation to seize Oseguera was carried out with "complementary information" from US authorities.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Washington "provided intelligence support."

Six suspected cartel gunmen besides Oseguera were also killed and three soldiers were wounded, the Mexican army said.

Two cartel suspects were arrested and a variety of weapons seized, including rocket launchers capable of taking down airplanes and destroying armored vehicles, the army said.

As gunmen blocked roads with retaliatory violence, Jalisco state, which is scheduled to host four World Cup games this summer, cancelled all events involving large crowds.

Oseguera was a founding member of CJNG, which was formed in 2009 and has grown into one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico, ahead of the Sinaloa cartel.

Amid the violence, Guatemala said it was reinforcing "strategic" sections of its frontier with Mexico, which has seen cross-border incursions by criminal groups linked to cartels in recent months.

The United States has classified CJNG as a terrorist organization and accuses it of sending cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau welcomed the operation and called Oseguera "one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins."

The raid came amid pressure from US President Donald Trump for Mexico to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

Trump has threatened repeatedly to slap tariffs on Mexican exports, arguing that Sheinbaum has not done enough to combat the drug trade.

E.AbuRizq--SF-PST