Woman Inadvertently Led Mexico to Cartel Boss

Mexico's most-hunted cartel boss ultimately was found the old-fashioned way: Investigators followed his love life. President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday confirmed that security forces located Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes after Mexican and US agencies tracked the movements of one of his romantic partners to a compound in Tapalpa, Jalisco. After their rendezvous, Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, tried to flee when special forces moved in Sunday, sparking a gunbattle, NBC News reports. Wounded in the clash, the 59-year-old was put on a helicopter bound for Mexico City but died en route, officials said.

The exact location was confirmed by information from US intelligence, per the AP. Among the weaponry authorities reported seizing were two rocket launchers. The operation left at least eight cartel members and three Mexican officials dead, Trevilla Trejo said. The killing of Oseguera Cervantes triggered a wave of retaliatory violence across roughly 20 states, led largely by the cartel—considered Mexico's most lethal and a major supplier of fentanyl and meth to the US. Officials reported hundreds of roadblocks, burned vehicles in city streets, and attacks on gas stations and banks, with more than 30 suspected cartel members and 27 security personnel killed in the unrest.

Mexico's top security official said 70 people have been detained, per NBC. Sheinbaum insisted the country is under control and said blockades had been lifted by Monday, as life slowly resumed in Guadalajara after a near-shutdown the previous day that left more than 1,000 people sleeping overnight at the city zoo. She praised the armed forces, saying Mexico "should be very proud" of them.