Guadalajara (Mexico) (AFP) - The inhabitants of the Mexican state of Jalisco tried on Monday to return to their daily lives: cautiously, they went out to buy food, fill gasoline tanks and stock up on essentials, still scared by the bloody day in which the drug trafficker Nemesio Oseguera, leader of the feared Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), died.

First modification: 02/24/2026 - 03:37

Oseguera, alias "El Mencho", 59, was injured on Sunday in a military operation that sought to arrest him. He died while being transported by air to a hospital.

His death unleashed a violent response from the cartel, which on Sunday blocked routes, burned vehicles, attacked gas stations, businesses and banks and confronted authorities in 20 of the country's 32 states.

In Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco and one of the three largest Mexican cities, schools remained closed on Monday, as in a dozen states. Public transportation was partially reactivated with buses that carried few passengers.

In the few open establishments, long lines formed, while people made panic purchases, carrying more products than usual.

"There is only one store open," the pharmacies closed and "there are some colonas (long lines) to buy (...) And at the butcher shop I have a barbaric colona (line), everything is closed. People are afraid," Juan Soler, a retiree from Guadalajara, told AFP.

"We needed food"

María de Jesús González, a company employee in her sixties, recounted the anguish she experienced on Sunday.

"We were locked in, very panicked, we didn't want to go out, we were looking at our cell phones and just like what happened, I couldn't sleep (...) Right now I'm a little calmer, but a little afraid," she says while slowly moving in the long line of a supermarket.

In this business, the carts were insufficient. Many carried their purchases in cardboard boxes and even bought laundry baskets to carry things.

During the turbulent day on Sunday, CJNG cells reacted in a coordinated manner with violent actions to avenge the death of their boss.

The authorities deployed nearly 10,000 soldiers to protect citizens.

The government's priority is "to protect the entire population." The country is now "at peace, it is calm," President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday morning.

On the streets of Guadalajara, authorities continued to remove vehicles that were reduced to twisted and smoky metal structures. Meanwhile, new fires were reported.

On the road that leads to the town of Tapalpa, where the capo was located by the military, the blockades of armed men from the cartel remain.

Matías Mora, a 64-year-old taxi driver from Guadalajara, says that on Sunday, near his house, "they burned the pharmacy" and set taxis on fire.

He says he fears being a victim of criminals on the streets, but out of necessity this Monday he went to work.

"We needed food," laments the driver. "I saw that the supermarket was very full and so I came to work."

The state government announced that mass events were suspended until further notice and in the afternoon it was assessing whether classes would resume on Tuesday.

In the rest of the country, the blockades mostly ended on Monday. The neighboring state of Michoacán was still experiencing obstructions in some places, especially in Aguililla, the remote hometown of Nemesio Oseguera.

© 2026 AFP

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