The second-in-command of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most powerful and feared criminal organisations in Mexico, has also been shot dead after the cartel’s leader was killed
The right-hand man of slain drug lord El Mencho has also been shot dead after his boss was killed by security forces in Mexico, it has emerged. Hugo César Macías Ureña, also known as “El Tuli”, co-ordinated the bloody backlash to the drug lord’s death on Sunday.
Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) torched buildings and erected burning road blocks after the shoot-out and El Tuli was said to have offered a bounty for every dead soldier.
But Defence secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said El Tuli had also been killed in a confrontation as authorities scrambled to restore order in the country following a wave of violence over the weekend.
El Mencho, Mexico’s most wanted man, was injured in a firefight with special forces troops in Tapalpa on Sunday during an operation to arrest him. He died while being flown to Mexico City for treatment, sparking a wave of violence from the power drug cartel he ran.
As news of his death spread, cartel members targeted the state’s airport. A video showed passengers fleeing as it came under attack. Airlines halted flights and ordered customers not to go to airports until the attacks stop.
Officials identified El Tuli as a top CJNG logistics and financial operator who acted as El Mencho’s right-hand man in Jalisco. He took over the reigns after El Mencho’s death and organised the cartel’s response.
Mexican officials said he offered 20,000 pesos – around £860 – for each soldier killed during the clashes. They said he was killed while attempting to flee in a vehicle during a security operation in El Grullo, Jalisco, local media reports.
Mexican authorities said they seized more than 7.2 million pesos – around £71,5416 – and weapons as well as the vehicle used in his attempted escape and turned the assets over to the Attorney General’s Office for financial tracing.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told a press conference: “There was no participation in this operation of U.S. forces. What there was, was an exchange of information.”
Mexican officials said they were monitoring potential reshuffling within CJNG and keeping surveillance on several leaders following the deaths of the two top players and warned of further violence as the group reconfigures.
El Mencho, a 59-year-old former police officer, ran a vast criminal organisation responsible for trafficking huge quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the US.
The US State Department had previously offered a $15m (£11.1m) reward for information leading to his capture.
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