By MEGAN JANETSKY and MARÍA VERZA, Associated Press
GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Twenty-five members of the Mexican National Guard died in six separate attacks after special forces killed the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the country’s security secretary said Monday as much of Mexico feared more violence.
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, called “El Mencho,” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged the cartel. The organization responded to his death by blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.
Oseguera Cervantes died after a shootout in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. Mexican Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had followed one of Oseguera Cervantes’ romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa.
Army and National Guard special forces moved in Sunday morning and immediately came under heavy fire. Eight gunmen were killed there. Oseguera Cervantes and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. They were taken into custody and died on the way to Mexico City, Trevilla said.
In a different location in Jalisco, soldiers also killed another high-ranking cartel member who Trevilla said was coordinating violence and offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.
Also killed Sunday were a prison guard, an agent from the state prosecutor’s office and a woman who was not identified by authorities. Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco and four others were killed in the neighboring state of Michoacan.
In all, at least 73 people were dead, according to a body count taken by security officials after the operation and the ensuing violence. That figure includes security forces, suspected cartel members and others.
Several Mexican states canceled school Monday, and local and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside after widespread violence erupted.
President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm, and authorities said all of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states had been cleared by Monday.
The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Mexico hoped the death of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many people were on edge as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.
Many fear more violence
The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and in Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday, and it warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.
Cars began circulating in Guadalajara before sunrise Monday with the start of the workweek, a notable change from Sunday, when Jalisco’s state capital and Mexico’s second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
More than 1,000 people were stuck overnight in Guadalajara’s zoo, where they slept in buses. On Monday morning, mothers wrapped in blankets carried their toddlers out of the buses for a much-needed bathroom break as police trucks guarded the area.
Luis Soto Rendón, the zoo’s director, said many had been trapped there since 9 a.m. Sunday, when violence broke out in Jalisco and the surrounding states. Families were left stranded after concluding they could not return home in nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan.
“We decided to let people stay inside the zoo for their safety,” Soto said. “There are small children and senior citizens.”
José Luis Ramírez, a 54-year-old therapist, was in a long line of people waiting outside a pharmacy, one of the few businesses that were open Monday in Guadalajara. Families were buying food, medicine, water, diapers and baby formula, from pharmacists through a chained door.
It was Ramírez’s first time leaving the house since violence erupted over the weekend, but he struck a hopeful tone saying that despite the bloodshed, civilians needed to move forward.
“We have to not think scared, but be cool-headed, like they say, and take things as they come,” he said.
Traffic was light in the city, and outwardly it appeared that those who could afford to stay home were doing so, while those who had to work were carefully making their way across the city.
Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, arrived at work early Monday.
She normally takes public transportation to work, but buses were not running, and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.
“I am worried because I don’t know how to get home if something happens,” she said.
Videos circulating on social media Sunday showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke rising in the distance.
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum gives her the daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum gives her the daily, morning news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, the day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
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A blow against a cartel could be a diplomatic coup
David Mora, Mexico analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the outburst of violence marks a point of inflection in Sheinbaum’s push to crack down on cartels and relieve U.S. pressures.
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.
There were early signs that Mexico’s efforts were well received by the United States.
U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. Under the leadership of Trump and Sheinbaum, he said, “bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”
But it may also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to El Mencho’s organization, Mora said.
“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity for them to expand control and to gain control over Cartel Jalisco in those states,” he said.
“Ever since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora said. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it. We don’t need U.S. troops on Mexican soil.”
‘El Mencho’ was a major target
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said via X that the U.S. government provided intelligence support for the operation.
“‘El Mencho’ was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,” she wrote.
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines.
Verza reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City also contributed to this report.
