The White House on Feb. 24 warned Mexican drug cartels not to target U.S. citizens after it was revealed that the United States provided intelligence to the Mexican government in its operation that killed a top drug lord over the past weekend.
On Feb. 22, Mexico’s government killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), leading to reprisal attacks against Mexican security forces by cartel members. The U.S. Embassy warned American citizens to shelter in place across several cities and states.
“We encourage all Americans in Mexico to, of course, adhere to the guidance provided by the State Department. Right now, we are unaware of any reports of any Americans being hurt, kidnapped, or killed,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “Fox & Friends” in an interview on Tuesday morning.
Leavitt added that cartels should “know not to lay a finger on a single American or they will pay severe consequences under this president, and they already are.” The operation to kill the cartel boss, she added, was supported by U.S. intelligence provided to the Mexican government.
The State Department is also working to communicate with Americans who are in Mexico and are “taking hundreds of calls per day” to provide travel-related support, she said.
It’s not clear if the cartel has any plans to target U.S. citizens. Jalisco state, where the operation was carried out, includes Puerto Vallarta, a tourist and resort city on the Pacific coast that is popular with Americans.
Mexico’s Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said on Monday that the army and National Guard launched an operation in the southern part of Jalisco state to capture Oseguera Cervantes, involving the Mexican air force and special forces. Intelligence gathered about one of Oseguera Cervantes’ romantic partners led them to his hideout, he said.
The cartel counterattacked, and in the ensuing confrontation, federal forces killed eight members of the criminal group. Oseguera Cervantes and two of his bodyguards were wounded and died later during transfer by air to Mexico City, Trevilla said.
Mexican authorities reported that 25 members of the Mexican National Guard were killed in six separate attacks, while some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, and four others in the neighboring state of Michoacan. Also killed were a prison guard and an agent from the state prosecutor’s office, officials said.
Oseguera Cervantes was facing multiple indictments in the United States, and the U.S. State Department had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest. The Trump administration designated the CJNG cartel and others as foreign terrorist organizations roughly a year ago.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who was U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration, praised the government operation in a post on X, writing: “The good guys are stronger than the bad guys. Congratulations to the forces of law and order in the great Mexican nation.”
In a renewed update on Monday, the U.S. Embassy issued a warning to Americans in Jalisco state, including the cities of Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara; Baja California state, and areas in Nayarit state due to “ongoing security operations” and road blockages.
U.S. citizens in those places are advised to shelter in place, and American government staff are “sheltering in place until all blockades are cleared,” the embassy said.
