00:00Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum said peace, security and normalcy are being maintained across the country
00:06after the killing of a drug cartel boss prompted his supporters to block roads and set fire to vehicles and
00:12businesses.
00:14Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or El Mencho, the mastermind of the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel,
00:21died in custody after being injured in an operation by Mexican special forces in the town of Tapalpa,
00:27according to authorities, at least 27 Mexican officials and 30 cartel members died in the operation.
00:34Let's take a listen to Claudia Scheinbaum.
00:40The people of Mexico should feel very proud of our armed forces in the security cabinet we have.
00:46They are great men and women who are always ready to give their lives for others.
00:51And the most important thing right now is to guarantee the peace and security of the entire population,
00:57all of Mexico, and that is exactly what is being done.
01:01Today, there is already more calm, there is government, there are armed forces,
01:07there is a security cabinet, and there is a lot of coordination.
01:14Well, earlier I spoke to our correspondent in Mexico City, Joan Grillo.
01:19He told us more about the situation on the ground.
01:29But they're giving some figures and some information about what happened yesterday.
01:33And it is devastating, the level.
01:37First, there was 252 blockades across the country.
01:41Now, these blockades, they're kind of known as narco blockades here.
01:45It's when these drug traffickers, these cartel hitmen, sicarios,
01:49hijacked trucks and burned them and block roads.
01:52And it's been a tactic for many years, but never on the scale of 250 across 20 states in the
01:59country,
02:00really shutting the country down.
02:01But even worse than that, they're starting to give numbers about the deaths.
02:06And as well as blocking roads, there was about some 27 attacks on security forces by cartel hitmen.
02:16And we're just getting some of the numbers there.
02:18But in one, some attacks in Jalisco alone, there were 25 Mexican soldiers killed in these attacks.
02:26Now, that is a huge number.
02:27I mean, for any military, that will be a huge number.
02:31And for 25 soldiers killed in attacks at home, that is massive.
02:35So during this morning press conference, you're just showing part of the general,
02:41the head of the Mexican military started to break down in tears describing this about the loss of lives.
02:47I mean, for any general with 25 troops killed, that's a big deal.
02:51So very devastating wave of attacks, but calm at the moment.
02:57It's still early in the day, though, here in Mexico.
02:59Well, we did hear some more information about the military operation itself during that press conference.
03:07Can you take us through that?
03:10Yes.
03:11So the general was saying that the information came from tracking a girlfriend of the drug lord El Mencho.
03:19It's often the case that tracking girlfriends, the lovers or family members of these drug lords is the way you
03:27find them.
03:28You start tracking, you know, they can leave them to the location.
03:31So tracking a girlfriend, they said they went into this safe house in this town in Jalisco and then leaving
03:37their information that he was there.
03:39And that's when they went in, in an airborne attack.
03:42And there was this big shootout.
03:45It's still a bit murky.
03:47And there wasn't that many details given about exactly the death of El Mencho.
03:54He was, you know, shot in this during this big shootout there.
03:58And I suppose it was two with two bodyguards of his taken on the airplane.
04:02And they all died of their injuries on the airplane.
04:05Or it's not completely clear.
04:06So still some questions there.
04:08And we haven't seen photos yet of the body of El Mencho.
04:12There was also some U.S. information for the attack.
04:17But the Mexicans saying it was planned and carried out by Mexico.
04:21It wasn't U.S. agents on the ground.
04:24And there has been in some previous busts like of El Chapa.
04:28You've seen actually American agents there.
04:29So this is a Mexican operation.
04:31But I think it's a Mexican operation.
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