Most wanted Mexican drug cartel leader killed by military

Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as 'El Mencho', has been killed in a military raid, Mexican officials have said, as the country's government has been ramping up pressure on cartels after US intervention threats.

Mexico's defense ministry said a shootout in the western state of Jalisco left Oseguera seriously injured and he died during an air transfer to Mexico City.

Several other members of the Oseguera's CJNG cartel were killed in the operation.

The ministry noted that US authorities had provided "complementary information".

The operation set off a wave of violence, with torched cars and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states.

An ex-police officer, Oseguera was the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an outfit named for the western state that is home to one of Mexico's biggest cities, Guadalajara.

He had a $15 million bounty on his head.

Over a relatively short period of time, the CJNG morphed into an international criminal enterprise rivaling former allies in the Sinaloa Cartel, the gang of captured kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, now in a US prison.

The military operation against Oseguera follows a pressure campaign from the Trump administration on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's government to ramp up its crackdown on drug trafficking, including US threats to intervene directly in Mexico.

Ms Sheinbaum said activities had returned to normality in most areas following the military operation.

"We must remain informed and calm," she said in a post on X, adding that she was working in coordination with all state governments.

Oseguera is one of the biggest drug suspects to be taken down since the capture of the founders of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Ismael Zambada.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Oseguera's killing was a "great development" for the US and Mexico, as well as the rest of Latin America.

The kingpin's killing notches a major victory for Mexico's war on drug cartels that are responsible for smuggling billions of dollars in cocaine and fentanyl into the US.

It is also expected to unleash a wave of violence across Mexico.

"A tremendous amount of violence is going to happen," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on international organized crime.

"Apart from the heads of the Sinaloa cartel, El Mencho has been the biggest prize for many, many years."

US military task force played role in raid

A new US-military-led task force specialising in intelligence collection on drug cartels played a role in the Mexican military raid, a US defence official said.

The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which involves multiple US government agencies, was quietly launched late last year with the goal of mapping out networks of drug cartel members on both sides of the US-Mexico border, US officials said.

The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details on any information that the US-military-led task force may have offered Mexican authorities.

The official stressed the raid itself was a Mexican military operation.

Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro urged residents to stay home until the situation was brought under control, and the US embassy advised its citizens to shelter in place.

Videos on social media showed cars ablaze, sending dark smoke into the sky, on roads in Jalisco.

Mexican media outlets reported burning vehicles and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states across the country, particularly in the north and west.

Air Canada said it temporarily suspended operations in Jalisco's Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast, a popular beach resort for Canadians and Americans.

United Airlines and American Airlines said they have cancelled flight operations to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara.

"United Airlines flight operations to PVR are cancelled," the carrier said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

American Airlines said it has canceled flights to and from Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara for the remainder of the day.

Earlier, people with guns set cars and trucks on fire in the western state of Jalisco, blocking several roads in response to a security operation taking place in the region.

This technique is used to thwart police trying to move in on a high-value target.

The violence spread to the neighboring state of Michoacan, where Oseguera's cartel also has a presence.

His cartel was formed in 2009 and became one of Mexico's most violent drug trafficking organizations, according to the US Justice Department.

US officials formally classified it as a terrorist organisation and accuse the cartel of sending cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl from Mexico across the border into the United States.