Mexico captures ‘El Jardinero’, appointed as successor to ‘El Mencho’

‘El Jardinero’ arrested by Mexican Navy forces Mexican National Defense Secretariat / AFP In an operation with the participation of hundreds of military personnel, Mexican authorities captured this Monday (27) one of the successors of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, founder of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), while trying to escape through a drainage system. Nicknamed “El Jardinero”, he was Oseguera’s “right-hand man” until his death, security expert David Saucedo told AFP. Oseguera died in February after being injured by soldiers during an operation in Jalisco, which resulted in a criminal riot in which “El Mencho’s” henchmen burned vehicles to block roads in 20 of the country’s 32 states. The capture of Audias Flores Silva, one of the men closest to Oseguera, in the state of Nayarit, bordering Jalisco, led local authorities to ask the population via Facebook to stay at home in the face of the possibility of new blockades and violent actions. READ ALSO: What is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and how it became the most powerful criminal organization in Mexico Who was ‘El Mencho’, Mexico’s most wanted drug trafficker killed in a military operation The United States offered a reward of US$5 million for “El Jardinero”. According to the Insight Crime analysis center, the criminal leader emerged as one of the successors of the founder of the CJNG. He was also in charge of negotiating on Oseguera’s behalf an alliance between the CJNG and “Los Chapitos”, the faction of the Sinaloa Cartel commanded by the heirs of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Saucedo added, citing intelligence sources from the United States and Mexico. Flores Silva was imprisoned for five years in the United States and was released in 2016. According to information disseminated by Mexican authorities, he controlled several methamphetamine laboratories in Jalisco and the neighboring state of Zacatecas. Videos trending on g1 Captured in a drainage pipe The Mexican Navy planned and executed the capture operation after 19 months of monitoring and “exchanging information with American agencies”, the Security Office said in a statement The leader of the CJNG “was sheltered in a hut, with a security device” integrated by around 30 pickup trucks and “more than 60 armed people”, details the text The operation was carried out in the community of El Mirador, with the support of four helicopters and more than 500 soldiers. The Ministry of the Navy highlighted that “not a single shot” was fired. When military forces arrived, Flores’ security guards dispersed “as a distraction”, but the criminal leader was located and detained “when he tried to hide in a drainage duct”, authorities said. Flores Silva is “requested by United States authorities for extradition purposes”, said Omar García Harfuch, Minister of Security, on the social network. In addition, César Alejandro “N”, known as “El Güero Conta”, Flores Silva’s financial operator, was detained in Jalisco, the minister said. The United States ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, recognized the Navy’s “gallantry and precision” in the operation. “Together, we achieved results that make our nations safer”, he added in a message on Blockades in the north Earlier, the government of Tamaulipas (northeast) reported the arrest of Alexander “N” — by law surnames are not disclosed –, identified as a “priority target” and member of a criminal organization that operates in that state. The capture resulted in at least eight roadblocks by criminals in Reynosa, a city on the border with the United States. According to Mexican media, the detained criminal is Alexander Benavides Flores, known as “R9”, who is said to be head of the Los Metros group, a faction of the weakened Gulf Cartel.

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