Mexican President Sheinbaum Says The Country Is 'Calm And Peaceful' After Killing Of El Mencho

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the country is "calm and peaceful" after the killing of Nemesio Oceguera Cervantes, Known as El Mencho and leader of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

"What's most important is that we are working," Sheinbaum added, noting that federal and state forces are working in coordination following backlash from cartel operatives, which included road blocks and different violent acts across the country.

Sheinbaum went on to say that all major roads in the country are clear and authorities will swiftly respond to any incident.

According to official figures presented by Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch and Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, almost 60 people were killed and about 20 injured in multiple Mexican states following the military operation that resulted in the death of El Mencho.

Harfuch said authorities recorded 27 attacks against security forces in Jalisco after the operation. He reported that 25 National Guard members, one prison guard and one state prosecutor's office official were killed in those incidents, along with one civilian. Thirty suspected members of organized crime were also killed during related confrontations, he said.

Trevilla detailed casualties from the operation itself, saying three soldiers were killed in direct clashes in a wooded area of Jalisco and three more died from injuries while being airlifted to a hospital. He said troops also killed eight suspected gunmen, detained two people and seized weapons including seven long guns and two rocket launchers of Russian origin.

Elsewhere in the conference, the general said that forces managed to find El Mencho after tracking down a lover of his. Once the person left the premise, officers confirmed that El Mencho stayed there. Forces then moved on to detain him, engaging in a shootout with cartel operatives there.

Trevilla Trejo noted that that El Mencho tried to escape while leaving a group of operatives behind to slow down government forces. He made it to a nearby wood, but forces pinned him down and wounded him. El Mencho was taken to a helicopter heading to Mexico City, but he died on the way.