President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum revealed this Wednesday that she held a telephone call with US President Donald Trump following the operation in Jalisco in which Nemesio Oseguera, alias El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), died last February 22 and which caused a wave of violence in much of the country. Sheinbaum stated that during the call, she explained to Trump the details of the actions taken in Mexico to capture the drug lord. She recounted how the operation had been, that they had received intelligence assistance from the US Government, and that coordination was going very well. Sheinbaum's statements came after the US president highlighted, during his State of the Union address, that US intelligence services played a decisive role in allowing Mexican forces to locate El Mencho in a complex of cabins in the small town of Tapalpa, located in southern Jalisco. However, the Mexican president reiterated that US participation was limited to the exchange of information. She also ruled out for the time being any meeting with the US president. Separately, she mentioned that on Tuesday, the US ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, met with the Security Cabinet at the National Palace, a protocolary meeting following the operation against El Mencho. The meeting took place in the context of bilateral security cooperation, particularly after the operation carried out on February 22, in which Oseguera Cervantes died. El Mencho, 59 years old, was one of the most wanted criminals by Mexican and US authorities, with a million-dollar reward for information leading to his capture. Washington accused him of leading a "reign of terror" in Mexico and destroying "countless lives" with fentanyl trafficking, and offered up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction. Under his command, the CJNG expanded its presence in Mexico and strengthened drug trafficking routes, including fentanyl to the United States, which placed him among the most wanted drug traffickers by both countries.
