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OPEN CHRONICLE | Global Perspectives, Local Integrity
By Open Chronicle with Agencies
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — The Mexican government has launched a massive military surge in the state of Jalisco, deploying an additional 2,000 soldiers and National Guard units to quell a violent uprising triggered by the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the infamous leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The deployment follows a weekend of carnage in the mountain town of Tapalpa. On February 22, a high-stakes joint operation involving the Mexican Army, Air Force, and National Guard targeted a CJNG stronghold. During the ensuing firefight, Oseguera Cervantes, long Mexico’s most wanted man, was critically wounded. He succumbed to his injuries while being airlifted to Mexico City.
A Region in Chaos: The death of the kingpin sparked immediate and brutal retaliation. Across Jalisco and neighboring states, cartel militants used improvised armored vehicles and rocket launchers to attack government forces and block major transit routes. Reports of car fires, burning buses used as roadblocks, and coordinated strikes on security outposts have plunged several urban centers, including Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, into a state of high alert.
The newly deployed reinforcements are tasked with reclaiming strategic infrastructure, securing airports, and restoring order to the highways that have become battlegrounds.
U.S. Intelligence Role: The success of the initial raid has been attributed to the newly formed Joint Interagency Task Force to Combat Cartels (JITF-CC). Backed by the U.S. military, the task force provided the Mexican government with precise coordinates and a detailed operational blueprint. While the operation claimed the life of the CJNG leader and seven other militants, it came at a cost: one National Guard soldier was killed, and three other service members were wounded in the heavy fighting.
A Decisive but Perilous Step: President Claudia Sheinbaum characterized the operation as a “decisive step” in dismantling organized crime, though she acknowledged that the nation must brace for further retaliatory violence.
Security experts warn that the power vacuum left by Oseguera Cervantes’ death could lead to a volatile “succession war” within the cartel, potentially sparking internal purges and further instability. The government’s current priority remains containment, as they scramble to prevent the violence from bleeding into other regions of the country.