Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
Australians have been advised by the government to reconsider travel to large parts of Mexico following a wave of major cartel violence.
So what's happened?
The violence was sparked by a raid on one of the country's most powerful cartel leaders which led to his death and a fierce retaliation.
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico - the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Mexican Defence Minister Ricardo Trevilla says a visit from a romantic partner of the infamous cartel boss led authorities to his hideout.
He says while authorities attempted to raid the premises and capture El Mencho alive, things soon turned violent.
“El Mencho has two arrest warrants for organised crime, so we were going to set up a perimeter. We had information from aerial platforms that the personnel were armed, so we were going to apply the Federal Law on Firearms and Explosives Control to arrest them in the act. So these personnel deployed, and El Mencho's security personnel opened fire against the military personnel.”
The cartel leader and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight.
They were taken into custody and died in a helicopter on the way to Mexico City.
The organisation responded to El Mencho's death with widespread violence, including blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.
In a different location in Jalisco, soldiers also killed another high-ranking cartel member who was allegedly coordinating violence and offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.
Mexico's Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch says 25 National Guard members, one security guard and one state prosecutor's office employee have been killed in retaliatory attacks.
“There were 27 cowardly assaults against authorities. In Jalisco there were six attacks where unfortunately 25 members of the National Guard, one security guard and one from the state attorney general's office lost their lives. In these incidents, at the hands of these cowardly criminals, one woman lost her life. We counted 30 criminals who also lost their lives in these attacks. In Michoacan there were 13 attacks where four criminals died and 15 members of law enforcement agencies were injured.”
In total, at least 73 people have died in the raid and the violent aftermath.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is primarily known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against Mexican government officials.
Mexico City residents say on one hand they are grateful for the actions of authorities but also fear it has exposed them to more violence.
“On one hand, it's definitely a strong blow to organised crime. However, we also have to recognise that the damage they cause us as citizens is huge. For example, there are curfews, buses being burned. It's really unfortunate what's happening, and we hope the authorities soon take control of this situation.”
US tourist Ryan Davis, who was on holiday with his boyfriend in Puerto Vallarta, says he was awoken by blasts but assumed they were fireworks at first.
“I was here on holiday with my boyfriend. We were supposed to leave yesterday. And when we woke up and we heard the initial things, we thought there were always a lot of fireworks in Puerto Vallarta. Our first thought was they were fireworks. And it wasn't until the text started coming in that we realised what was happening.”
US traveller Natalie Belluccia, a 28-year-old from New York, says she has spent the past 24 hours watching smoke rise in the distance.
She fears that the cartel could target Americans after news spread that the U-S were involved with the raid on El Mencho.
“It is definitely really scary. I hope that it ends soon. This is supposed to be like a vacation, a sanctuary where everything is peaceful. And then now it's like I'm currently in a war zone. So that is really nerve-wracking. I do feel like more of a target, knowing that we are involved, and I feel like the cartel is a little angry that the U-S is involved, so I'm scared that I'm gonna be targeted more. I think that we should have been warned in some sort of way.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says the operation to seize the drug lord was carried out by Mexican forces alone, with the US providing information.
"All operations are carried out by federal forces; there is no US participation in the operation. In this case, the US government provided information and even issued an intelligence statement. But the entire operation, from planning onwards, is the responsibility of federal forces, in this case the Ministry of National Defence.”
Ms Sheinbaum also says blockades on major roads created by the cartel have now been cleared.
Mexican authorities have deployed an additional 2,000 military troops to the western state of Jalisco in an effort to get lingering violence under control.
