By Lizbeth Diaz and Laura Gottesdiener
MEXICO CITY, Feb 22 (Reuters) - One of Mexico's most notorious drug lords, Nemesio Oseguera, or "El Mencho," was killed in a military raid on Sunday, sparking widespread retaliatory violence.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has been under mounting pressure from Washington to intensify her offensive against drug cartels blamed for producing and smuggling drugs, particularly the synthetic opioid fentanyl, across the border to the U.S.
Oseguera, 60, the mastermind of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) died in custody after being injured in a military operation by Mexican special forces in the town of Tapalpa on Mexico's Pacific coast in Jalisco state, according to Mexico's defense ministry.
His corpse arrived in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon in a heavily guarded convoy of National Guard troops.
Reuters had reported on Sunday that a new U.S.-military-led task force played a role in the raid led and carried out by Mexican forces. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later posted on social media that the United States provided intelligence support.
Leavitt added that the Trump administration "commends and thanks the Mexican military for their cooperation and successful execution of this operation."
After reports of El Mencho's death, cartel henchmen blockaded highways with burning cars and torched businesses in more than a half a dozen states, paralyzing parts of the country. No civilian deaths have been reported.
In Jalisco's popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, frightened tourists on social media described a "war zone" as plumes of dark smoke rose into the sky from around the bay. Air Canada, United Airlines, Aeromexico and American Airlines suspended flights in the area.
FORMER COP TO CARTEL KINGPIN
Oseguera, a former police officer, founded and oversaw the rapid rise of the CJNG, named for the western state of Jalisco that is home to one of Mexico's biggest cities, Guadalajara.
In recent years, CJNG has expanded into one of Mexico's most powerful cartels, known for violent tactics including forced labor and forced recruitment.
Under El Mencho's leadership, CJNG also became a highly diversified criminal enterprise, expanding from drug trafficking to fuel theft, extortion, human smuggling, and complex financial frauds. The cartel pioneered use of drones in attacks against civilians in remote regions of western Mexico as part of its rapid territorial expansion.
Sunday's raid was one of Mexico's highest profile blows against drug gangs responsible for smuggling billions of dollars of drugs - including fentanyl - into the U.S. In recent years, the leaders of the rival Sinaloa Cartel - Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada- were captured alive. Both are now in U.S. prisons.
President Donald Trump's administration lauded El Mencho's killing, but domestic violence it triggered highlighted the political balancing act Sheinbaum must strike as her government escalates its cartel offensive.
On Sunday, Sheinbaum stressed that activities in most areas of the country were proceeding as usual. Schools in various states across Mexico protectively canceled classes for Monday, according to announcements by state-level education departments.
Security experts were watching whether the raid and death of the cartel boss will fracture CJNG leadership and trigger bloody infighting.
"There will definitely be skirmishes between the various factions, and these spasms of violence could last for years," said Carlos Olivo, a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration assistant special agent in charge and an expert in CJNG.
KILLING WINS US PRAISE
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, previously ambassador to Mexico, said Oseguera's killing was a "great development" for the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the rest of Latin America.
In January after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump said "the cartels are running Mexico," and warned "we are going to start now hitting land with regard to the cartels."
Sheinbaum said she would strengthen efforts to cooperate with the U.S. to fight cartels., but vowed to uphold Mexico's sovereignty and warned against any unilateral military action by the U.S. in Mexico.
Sheinbaum in a social media post on Sunday said security officials would provide information on the operation.
(Reporting by Emily Green, Lizbeth Diaz, Stephen Eisenhammer, Leila Miller and Laura Gottesdiener; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Christian Plumb; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal Jasper Ward and Alexandra Alperin Washington, Gnaneshwar Rajan and Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, David Gregorio and Michael Perry)
