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The detention and killing of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, sparked a wave of violence in over 20 states with 252 violent events. But one of the first sparks, happened in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
Around 8:00 am on Sunday, several cars were set on fire, blocking highways. At first, there was no clear explanation because there was no visible local security operation that would justify this type of blockade. It wasn’t until around 10 a.m. that questions began to arise about the leader’s death.
The presence of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Tamaulipas has been confirmed since 2023. At the time, the U.S. government declared that they had formed an alliance with the “Metros” faction of the Gulf Cartel to gain control of customs trafficking and fuel theft operations (or huachicoleo), and to maintain control over this part of Tamaulipas.
Cecilia Farfan, head of the North American Observatory at The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) explains that “border towns like Reynosa are important because the border is a region where added value is created.” When substances move north, that triggers an increase in their price once they cross the border with the U.S. The value of trafficked firearms and ammunition goes up when they enter Mexico.
Although Tamaulipas is geographically far from Jalisco and Michoacán — the CJNG’s main centers of operation — organized crime dynamics closely connect these regions.
“El Primito,” identified as originally being from Colima, went to Tamaulipas to take charge of the “Metros” faction. In Reynosa, he reportedly oversaw the structure for fuel trafficking through the bridges connecting Reynosa with the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
The U.S. government has considerable information about operators involved in this logistics network, including environmental logistics and fuel smuggling operations carried out through fiscal mechanisms. James and Maxwell Jensen — whose extradition has been requested by the Mexican government for alleged links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Veracruz and Tamaulipas — are both linked to “El Primito.”
CJNG has presence in 28 of the 32 Mexican states and operations in 40 countries including the US. Fuel theft operations is a very large network, involving not only criminal actors but also extensive networks of public officials connected to border bridges on both sides.
The horror of the narco-blockades
On Sunday around 8:00 a.m. Daniel, a civil engineer who would not give his last name for fear of retaliation, had to travel from Tepic to Guadalajara for work. While he was on the highway, several colleagues started sharing the news of vehicles in flames in Puerto Vallarta. He rushed and was able to get to Guadalajara when he realized what was happening.
“Unfortunately, we are used to seeing this, but it felt different,” explained Daniel. Trucks were in flames, so he decided to go back, but it was too late. Like many others, Daniel had to be on the road witnessing shootings and cars being set on fire for almost 10 hours. By the time he got to Guadalajara, the city of a population of 5.6 million felt like a ghost town.
The next day, David Mora, senior analyst for Mexico at the International Crisis Group, arrived at Guadalajara. While things were calm the tension was palpable. Most shops were closed, so he had to walk for over an hour in one of the main roads to buy a meal of tacos. In the four-hour queue he learned the experiences of runners who had to spend an extra night after the half marathon, National Guard agents.
“They shared with me how violent the entire situation was, of the many colleagues of them that had been killed.” Over 25 national guard members were killed during the capture.
For Mora the retaliations will fade away, but not the violence. “That orchestrated demonstration of power of force across the country, not only Jalisco and western states, but all the way up to the US-Mexico border in Tamaulipas … that the show of territorial presence all across Mexico was already violent enough.”
What is coming next, is still difficult to break down.
