Mexico mobilized its army, air force and elite security units — backed by intelligence assistance from the United States — to eliminate Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the powerful head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in a sweeping weekend operation that officials described as unprecedented in scale.

The coordinated assault brought together ground troops, aircraft and a specially trained National Guard force focused on combating cartel violence. Oseguera, a former police officer who had a $15 million US bounty placed on him, had long led what authorities consider the most formidable criminal organization in the country.

Over the years, Oseguera built a heavily armed force around him. At his luxury compound in the state of Jalisco, security personnel reportedly maintained rocket launchers and other advanced weaponry to defend the property.

After dominating Mexico’s criminal underworld for years, Oseguera’s organization had amassed military-grade firepower, making a conventional law enforcement operation unfeasible.

In a prior raid on a CJNG stronghold, authorities discovered a cache that included numerous automatic machine guns, grenade launchers and rocket-propelled grenades — weapons similar to those used in 2015 to bring down a military helicopter.

Investigators also determined that Oseguera’s estate contained armored vehicles and heavy weapons more commonly associated with an organized military force than a criminal syndicate.

In advance of Sunday’s operation, Mexican officials received assistance from the US Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel (JITF-CC), a unit established last month to analyze and map cartel networks operating along the border.

President Trump has made dismantling Mexico’s drug cartels — which serve as a primary source of fentanyl and other narcotics entering the United States — a central focus of his administration.

Brigadier Gen. Maurizio Calabrese, who leads the task force, explained that the unit applied experience gained from counterterrorism campaigns against groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State to track cartel infrastructure.

“The cartels operate differently than al Qaeda or ISIS, different motivations, which makes it even more important for us to identify entire networks so that we can disrupt and dismantle (them),” Calabrese told Reuters.

After Trump formally classified Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations last year, the task force gained authority to deploy military tools and surveillance resources in monitoring trafficking networks.

Ultimately, US analysts assembled a comprehensive targeting dossier on Oseguera, identifying his presence in the rural community of Tapalpa.

Although specific intelligence contributions from JITF-CC have not been publicly detailed, the agency’s website outlines its mission as seeking to “identify, disrupt, and dismantle cartel operations posing a threat to the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

Mexico’s Security Ministry confirmed that US officials supplied “supplementary information” to support the mission, though planning and execution were directed by Mexico’s central military intelligence command.

According to Mexico’s Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla, part of the intelligence effort involved tracing an associate connected to one of Oseguera’s romantic partners, ultimately leading authorities to the cartel leader’s secluded compound in the mountains.

Trevilla said that when the woman departed the property, Oseguera and his armed entourage stayed behind inside the complex.

Once preparations were complete, Mexican special forces advanced on the compound Sunday. As security personnel attempted to escape into the surrounding forest, they opened fire on the approaching troops.

The Mexican troops “returned fire,” killing four cartel members in the shoot out, with Oseguera and three other gangsters dying from their wounds during an air transport, according to the security ministry.

Air Force aircraft and rapid-response National Guard teams provided additional support, enabling federal forces to swiftly subdue the gunmen and secure the property.

News of El Mencho’s death triggered violent retaliation by cartel factions across Mexico, with roadblocks erected on key highways and vehicles set ablaze.

Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order in Puerto Vallarta, a resort city west of Tapalpa, as unrest spread throughout the state.

Mexico Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch reported that at least 25 National Guard members were killed during the wave of violence in Jalisco, along with a prison guard and a state prosecutor’s office agent.

{Matzav.com}