Two National Guard members and three Mexican soldiers lost their lives in separate attacks on Sunday, allegedly carried out by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán.
In La Barca, suspected CJNG gunmen ambushed two National Guard officers in the town of Guadalupe del Lerma, according to a statement from the National Guard to the EFE news agency. The victims, assigned to the highway security division, were inside a GN vehicle when the attack occurred.
Meanwhile, in the Michoacán municipality of Chilchota, cartel gunmen killed three soldiers as they attempted to change the tires of an army vehicle damaged by road spikes left by criminal operatives. The attack took place around 7:30 p.m. on the highway connecting Chilchota and Zamora. At least two additional soldiers sustained injuries.
Following the attacks, the Michoacán Security Ministry announced an “inter-institutional operation” aimed at capturing those responsible. The operation spans the municipalities of Zamora, La Piedad, and Jiquilpan, though no arrests had been reported by Monday morning.
Reports from Aristegui Noticias and other media outlets indicate that three suspected cartel members were killed during Sunday evening clashes between federal security forces and CJNG operatives. However, authorities have not officially confirmed these deaths.
Ongoing Violence in Jalisco and Michoacán
Sunday’s attacks follow recent discoveries of clandestine crematoriums on a ranch in Jalisco linked to the CJNG. The site, located in the municipality of Teuchitlán, has been described by some as an “extermination camp” and likened to “Mexico’s Auschwitz.”
The violence began around 6 p.m. in the town of San Antonio de Rivas, also in La Barca, where gunmen opened fire on National Guard personnel patrolling the area. While no injuries were reported, attacks later escalated in other locations.
Security forces also came under fire in Michoacán municipalities near the Jalisco border, including Vista Hermosa, Tanhuato, and Yurécuaro. Two state police officers were wounded in these assaults.
Additionally, CJNG operatives hijacked and set multiple vehicles ablaze, creating roadblocks on highways connecting Michoacán and Jalisco. These “narco-blockades” are a common cartel tactic used to obstruct law enforcement reinforcements.
CJNG Associate Suspected of Orchestrating Attacks
Preliminary National Guard investigations indicate that Heraclio Guerrero Martínez, known as “El Tío Laco,” coordinated the attacks. Guerrero is reportedly a close associate of CJNG leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes.
The U.S. State Department currently offers a $15 million reward for information leading to El Mencho’s capture. The CJNG, formed in 2009, is considered one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels and is responsible for significant cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl trafficking into the United States.
Former DEA Administrator Anne Milgram has identified the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel as the most significant criminal threats to the U.S., citing their role in fentanyl distribution.