Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said peace, security and normalcy are being maintained across the country
after the killing of a drug cartel boss prompted his supporters to block roads and set fire to vehicles and businesses
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or El Mencho, the mastermind of the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel
died in custody after being injured in an operation by Mexican special forces in the town of Tapalpa
According to authorities, at least 27 Mexican officials and 30 cartel members died in the operation
Let's take a listen to Claudia Scheinbaum. The people of Mexico should feel very proud of our armed forces in the security cabinet we have
They are great men and women who are always ready to give their lives for others. And the most important thing right now is to guarantee the peace and security of the
entire population, all of Mexico. And that is exactly what is being done
Today there is already more calm there is government there are armed forces there is a security cabinet and there is a lot of coordination
Well, earlier I spoke to our correspondent in Mexico City, Joan Grillo
He told us more about the situation on the ground. but they're giving some figures and some information about what happened yesterday
and it is devastating the level um first there was 252 blockades across the country
now these blockades they're kind of known as narco blockades here uh it's when these drug
traffickers, these cartel hitmen, sicarios, hijack trucks and burn them and block roads
And it's been a tactic for many years, but never on the scale of 250 across 20 states
in the country, really shutting the country down. But even worse than that, they're starting to give numbers about the deaths
And as well as blocking roads there was about some 27 attacks on security forces by cartel hitmen And we just getting some of the numbers there but in one some attacks in Jalisco alone there were 25 Mexican soldiers killed in these attacks
Now, that is a huge number. I mean, for any military, that will be a huge number. And for
25 soldiers killed in attacks at home, that is massive. So during this morning press conference
who were just showing part of, the general, the head of the Mexican military, started to break
down in tears describing this about the loss of lives. I mean, for any general with 25 troops
killed, that's a big deal. So very devastating wave of attacks, but calm at the moment. It's
still early in the day, though, here in Mexico. Well, we did hear some more information about the
military operation itself during that press conference. Can you take us through that
Yes. So the general was saying that the information came from tracking a girlfriend
of the drug lord El Mencho It often the case that tracking girlfriends the lovers or family members of these drug laws is the way you find them you start tracking you know that they could leave them to the location so
tracking a girlfriend they said they went into this safe house in this town in Jalisco and then
leaving that information that he was there and that's when they went in in an airborne attack
and there was this big shootout. It's still a bit murky and there wasn't that many details given
about exactly the death of El Mencho. He was shot during this big shootout there
and I suppose with two bodyguards of his taken on the aeroplane
and they all died of their injuries on the aeroplane or it's not completely clear
So still some questions there and we haven't seen photos yet of the body of El Mencho. There was also some US information
for the attack, but the Mexicans saying it was planned and carried out by Mexico. It
wasn't US agents on the ground, and there has been in some previous busts like of El
Chapa, you've seen actually American agents there. So this is a Mexican operation, but