25 Mexican National Guard soldiers have died in Jalisco after the killing of popular gang leader El Mencho.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said on Monday that 25 members of the National Guard were killed in Jalisco in six different attacks after the attack. the killing of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel And Mesio Oseguera Cervantes.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes – known as “El Mencho” – was the head of the fastest-growing criminal network in Mexico, known for smuggling fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States and attacking government officials who were challenged.

He was killed during a shootout in his hometown of Jalisco when Mexican soldiers tried to arrest him.

A source briefed on the operation told CBS News that the attack was the result of strong US-Mexico counter-cartel cooperation under Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and that intelligence sharing has been significantly expanded in recent months through joint channels coordinated by the US Northern Command. The source described a “combination of efforts” in which Mexican special forces carried out the operation while US personnel provided intelligence and operational advice from outside Mexico.

Cartel members they responded with violence throughout the country, blocking roads and burning cars.

Mexico’s Secretary of Defense Ricardo Trevilla said on Monday that authorities tracked down one of Oseguera Cervantes’ lovers where he was hiding in Tapalpa, Jalisco.

The special forces of the army and the National Guard moved in on Sunday morning and came under heavy attack. Eight gunmen were killed there. Oseguera Cervantes and two security guards ran into a wooded area where they were seriously injured when the fire broke out, Trevilla said. They were airlifted out with the wounded soldier, but El Mencho and his bodyguards died en route to Mexico City, he said.

In a separate area in Jalisco, the military also killed another high-ranking cartel member Trevilla said was involved in violence and offered more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.

A prison guard, an agent from the federal prosecutor’s office and a woman García Harfuch did not identify were also killed. He also said that 30 suspects were killed in Jalisco and four were killed in Michoacan.

Several Mexican states canceled school on Monday, with local and foreign governments warning their citizens to stay indoors after the outbreak of violence.

Sheinbaum appealed for calm on Monday and officials said all of the more than 250 roadblocks in 20 states had been cleared. The president was expected to address the situation at his daily news conference on Monday morning.

Mexico had hoped the death of the world’s biggest fentanyl trafficker would ease the Trump administration’s pressure to do more against the cartels, but many remain stunned and on edge as they wait to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.

Fear of more violence

The US embassy said via X that its staff in eight cities and the state of Michoacan would stay local and work remotely on Monday, and warned US citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same. The Department of National Diplomatic Affairs, in a message telling American citizens to continue taking shelter, said on social media that taxi and rideshare operations in Puerto Vallarta have been suspended.

Traffic began circling Guadalajara before sunrise on Monday for the start of the work week, a marked change from Sunday when the capital of Jalisco and Mexico’s second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed at home.

More than 1,000 people were trapped in the Guadalajara zoo overnight, sleeping on buses. On Monday morning, mothers wrapped in clothes carried their toddlers off the buses for a much-needed bathroom break as police trucks patrolled the area.

Luis Soto Rendón, the director of the zoo, said many had been trapped there since 9 a.m. the previous day, when violence broke out in Jalisco and surrounding regions. Families were left homeless, trying to distract their children, as they decided they could not return to their homes in nearby states such as Zacatecas and Michoacan.

“We decided that people should stay inside the zoo to be safe,” said Soto. “There are young children and old people.”

Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, came to work early Monday.

He usually takes public transportation to work, but the buses were not running and he had no way to cross the city. His management arranged a private car to pick him up. He said his family was staying at home and was afraid to leave.

“I’m worried because I don’t know how I’ll get home if something happens,” she said.

Passengers who arrived at the city’s airport on Sunday night were told that they were operating with fewer staff due to the violence.

Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at least 14 more people killed on Sunday, including seven National Guard soldiers.

Videos circulating on social media on Sunday showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke billowing in the distance.

An attack against the cartel would be a coup

David Mora, Mexico analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the kidnappings and outbreak of violence point to Sheinbaum’s campaign to dismantle the cartels and ease American pressure.

President Trump has demanded that Mexico do more to combat the trafficking of the deadly drug fentanyl, threatening to impose additional taxes or take joint military action if the country does not show results.

Mr. Trump on Monday urged Mexico to step up its efforts to deal with drug cartels a day after the military raid.

“Mexico must step up its efforts on Cartels and Drugs!” wrote on a social media site.

There were early signs that Mexico’s efforts were well received by the United States.

US Ambassador Ron Johnson acknowledged the success of the Mexican military and their sacrifices in a statement last Sunday. He added that “under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”

But it could also lead to more violence as rival gangs take advantage of the CJNG’s crackdown, Mora said.

“This may be a time when other groups see that the cartel is weak and want to seize the opportunity to increase control and control the Jalisco Cartel in those states,” he said.

“Ever since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the military has been at odds with the criminal gangs in Mexico,” Mora said. “This shows the US that if we continue to cooperate, share intelligence, Mexico can do it. We don’t need US troops on Mexican soil.”

“El Mencho” was more targeted

Oseguera Cervantes, who was injured during a kidnapping on Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about two hours by car southwest of Guadalajara, died in a fall in Mexico City, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Oseguera Cervantes had a $15 million bounty on his head.

During the operation, the soldiers rioted and killed four people in the area. Three other people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were injured and later died, the statement said.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told X that the US government provided intelligence support for the operation. “‘El Mencho’ was a liability to the Mexican and US governments as one of the top fentanyl traffickers in our country,” he wrote. He praised the Mexican military for their work.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.

“El Mencho” was “the best thing for the DEA and frankly for law enforcement in the United States,” Matthew Donahue, the DEA’s top agent in Mexico, told CBS News in 2019.

In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

Sheinbaum criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that targeted cartel leaders, only to cause an explosion of violence as the cartels were broken up. Although he is still popular in Mexico, security is an ongoing problem and since President Trump took office last year, he has been under great pressure to show the effects of drug trafficking.

The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive in its military attacks – including helicopters – and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and planting mines. In 2020, he made a spectacular assassination attempt with bombs and high-powered guns in the heart of Mexico City against the former head of the capital’s police and now the federal security secretary.