Mexico Reports Cartel Killed 25 National Guard Personnel

Washington (ANTARA) - Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection Omar Garcia Harfuch said on Monday that a wave of violence in Mexico’s Jalisco state killed 25 members of the National Guard.

“Following the attempt to detain El Mencho, there were 27 attacks against security forces, which were cowardly acts. In Jalisco state alone, six attacks were reported, killing 25 National Guard members, one escort officer, and one state attorney general’s office personnel,” Harfuch said whilst explaining the violence that occurred on Sunday.

The secretary further reported that a civilian woman and thirty members of organised crime were killed as a result of the violence in Jalisco. Additionally, the neighbouring state of Michoacan recorded 13 acts of aggression that left seven criminals dead and 15 law enforcement members injured.

Throughout the wave of violence, law enforcement recorded 85 roadblocks placed on federal highways across eleven states, including Baja California, Michoacan, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Veracruz, Harfuch said. Most of the roadblocks had been removed the previous day, and major highways were clear, he added.

Harfuch emphasised that as a result of law enforcement operations, 70 criminals were detained across seven states.

On 22 February, Mexico’s National Defence Secretariat announced an operation to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” who subsequently died from injuries sustained whilst being transported to Mexico City.

The cartel then carried out reprisals by launching a wave of violence across several states, including setting up road blockades, burning fuel stations, banks and vehicles, and attacking security forces in dozens of cities and administrative regions.