US threatens Mexican cartels with “serious consequences”

“At this time, we are not aware of any reports of Americans being injured, kidnapped or killed, and the Mexican drug cartels know they cannot touch any Americans, or they will face serious consequences under the president, as is already happening,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

She reiterated in an interview with the broadcaster Fox News that the operation “successfully carried out by Mexican authorities” to take down El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), had the collaboration of American intelligence.

“This would not have been possible without the leadership of President (Donald) Trump,” said Leavitt, who recalled that the government designated Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and the “lethal measures” taken against boats allegedly transporting drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific to stop the flow of illicit substances into the United States.

According to the spokeswoman, Washington is “coordinating, cooperating and pressuring the Mexican government to do more to stop deadly drugs entering the US southern border.”

Hundreds of American tourists were stranded in western Mexico after the death of “El Mencho” on Sunday triggered a wave of violence in several Mexican cities, including Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, the latter one of the main tourist destinations in North America.

The leader of the CJNG, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the region, was the most wanted drug trafficker in Mexico. He was killed during a Mexican Army operation in Tapalpa, in the western state of Jalisco. Mexican authorities confirmed that they relied on American intelligence information.

In reaction to his death, criminals unleashed a wave of violence in around a third of Mexico’s states, causing the deaths of 25 soldiers, a guard and an agent from the Jalisco State Attorney General’s Office, as well as 30 members of the CJNG, according to the official report.

The criminal actions included around 85 blockades of federal highways, burning of vehicles, attacks on gas stations, stores and banks.

The government mobilized around 10,000 soldiers on the streets to try to restore normality in the country.