"Early on February 22nd, residents woke up to the whirl of Army helicopters buzzing low over their houses, while those on the western edge of town heard gunshots and explosions. By eleven that morning, news broke that the operation was targeting Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, better known as El Mencho, the fifty-nine-year-old head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or C.J.N.G., and the most powerful drug lord in Mexico."
"But the C.J.N.G didn't just exact its revenge in Tapalpa; it unleashed it across Mexico. The day of Mencho's death, cartel thugs launched more than two hundred and fifty attacks in twenty of Mexico's thirty-two states, burning trucks, cars, buses, shops, and banks. They targeted National Guard forces, killing at least twenty-five troops, and left bullet-riddled corpses on roads."
"Foreign embassies issued shelter-in-place alerts, international airlines cancelled flights into parts of the country, and millions cowered in their homes. In the airport of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state, travellers ran in panic amid a false alarm that gunmen were storming the facility."
On February 22nd, Mexican Army helicopters conducted an operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco targeting Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, the 59-year-old leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (C.J.N.G.) and Mexico's most powerful drug lord. The Army confirmed his death by mid-morning. Rather than containing violence to one location, the C.J.N.G. responded with coordinated attacks across Mexico, launching over 250 assaults in 20 of Mexico's 32 states. The cartel burned vehicles, shops, and banks, targeted National Guard forces killing at least 25 troops, and left bodies on roads. The violence prompted foreign embassies to issue shelter-in-place alerts, airlines to cancel flights, and caused widespread public panic including false alarms at Guadalajara airport.
Read at The New Yorker
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]