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WASHINGTON -- The United States and Ecuador conducted joint military operations against "designated terrorist organizations in Ecuador," U.S. Southern Command announced on Tuesday. This marks the first time that the U.S. military has engaged in a land operation against South American drug cartels. Until now, the U.S. military had only carried out airstrikes targeting smuggling boats in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

A day of extreme violence in Mexico has left American tourists, including several Arizonans, sheltering in place as the U.S. Department of State issued urgent new travel restrictions following a major military operation. **SNIP** Dig deeper: In Puerto Vallarta, tourists reported a sudden shift in the city's atmosphere. Melissa Selvey, an Arizonan sheltering at her resort, shared photos of fires visible from her balcony and described an "eerie" feeling among the staff. "The vibes changed really fast," she said. "Yesterday was a beautiful, wonderful Puerto Vallarta vacation day, and then today just feels very eerie, and very like vacant looks...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office confirms one of its sergeants has died following a traffic stop on I-40 eastbound near Carnuel. Sheriff John Allen identified Sergeant Michael Schlattman as the victim in the incident. According to BCSO, Sergeant Schlattman called over the radio to advise he was conducting a traffic stop. While he was outside the vehicle, a semi truck struck the rear of his department issued vehicle, ultimately pinning him beneath. Sergeant Schlattman died on scene as a result of his injuries. Traffic impact and investigation I-40 eastbound and westbound lanes are closed near Carnuel. Authorities...

TAPALPA, Mexico (AP) — A day after the Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful drug lord, the picturesque town where it happened was a study in contrasts. Children whose classes had been suspended by the outbreak of violence played in cobblestone streets and tourist shops were open on Tapalpa’s main plaza Monday. But gunshots also rang out, and just outside the town a dead man lay on the road next to a Jeep sprayed with bullets. Meanwhile, heavily armed Mexican security forces kept up their battle with cartel gunmen following the killing that sparked a surge in violence and...

Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes was a feared Mexican drug lord and the leader of a ruthless cartel accused of masterminding efforts to push fentanyl into the United States. Once a police officer, Oseguera went on to become one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, with the United States alone offering a $15 million bounty for information leading to his arrest. Oseguera, who formed and led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was an elusive figure who had been considered Mexico’s most powerful cartel boss since Sinaloa kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was arrested last decade. Born in July 1966...

Violent clashes erupted in parts of western Mexico on Sunday amid a military operation that led to the death of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader, triggering widespread security concerns throughout the region. Mexican security forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho," during an operation in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico's Ministry of Defense said in a statement on X. It said he was wounded during the raid in the town of Tapalpa and died while being flown to Mexico City. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who also confirmed the cartel leader's death,...

Mexican security forces have killed notorious cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, widely known by his alias “El Mencho,” in a major operation that authorities said represents one of the most significant blows to organized crime in recent years. Oseguera, the longtime leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed during a pre-dawn raid carried out by Mexican military forces in western Mexico, according to senior government officials.

Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) stormed Guadalajara International Airport on Sunday in apparent retaliation for the death of their notorious leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. The attack has led to widespread panic, with videos showing passengers and airport staff fleeing for cover amid reports of gunfire and armed confrontations. The violence comes just hours after Mexican authorities confirmed El Mencho’s elimination in a targeted operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, reportedly conducted with U.S. assistance. Chaos reported at Guadalajara International Airport in Jalisco after suspected CJNG cartel attacks outside and possibly inside the airport, allegedly in retaliation to...

The article does push gun control but is eye opening none the less. Large numbers of Barrett .50 Cal rifles are being legally purchased in the US and shipped to Mexico to be used by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Additionally, recent allegation against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel indicate that 4 US Special Forces Soldiers, 1 Green Beret/Delta Force Operator, 2 US Navy Seals and a Ranger from 75th Ranger Regiment. The point that is interesting to me is this one particular cartel has professional military people running their operations who have all received special forces training in the...

A former Drug Enforcement Agency agent was indicted on federal charges of conspiring to traffic drugs and launder millions of dollars for a Mexican cartel. Paul Campo, who was a DEA agent for nearly 25 years, his associate Robert Sensi, are accused in a new indictment unsealed Friday of converting cash into cryptocurrency to buy 220 kilograms of cocaine, worth $5 million, and launder $750,000 in proceeds from drug sales for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG. The State Department designated CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege...

The FBI on Friday morning raided the home of a high-ranking DEA official under Barack Obama and charged him for conspiring to launder millions of dollars for a Mexican drug cartel. The Feds charged former DEA Deputy Chief of the Office of Financial Operations Paul Campo and friend Robert Sensi for conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Paul Campo and Robert Sensi were charged with narcoterrorism, terrorism, narcotics distribution, and money laundering charges. Campo and Sensi were arrested on Thursday afternoon in New York, according to the DOJ. Campo and Sensi agreed to launder $12 million...

Gabbard described an operation in which intelligence provided to Mexican law enforcement led to the arrest of an alleged Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) associate known as “La Diabla.” The individual is accused of leading a criminal network involved in human trafficking, illegal medical procedures, and the sale of newborns. irector of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard praised recent U.S. and Mexican law enforcement operations that she said were supported by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) through intelligence sharing. According to Gabbard, actionable intelligence from the NCTC assisted both U.S. and Mexican authorities in the arrest of a Sinaloa Cartel leader...

A popular Mexican musician who sang the praises of drug lords was shot dead in a parking lot in the west of the country, police said late Tuesday. Ernesto Barajas, a singer with the group Enigma Norteno, which has four million monthly listeners on Spotify, was gunned down in the city of Zapopan in Jalisco state. He is among several performers of so-called "narco-corridos" — a controversial sub-genre of regional music that celebrates the exploits of infamous drug cartels — to have been killed in recent months. In May, five members of the group Fugitivo were murdered by suspected drug...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States Tuesday in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs across the border. Those handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael González Valencia, a leader of “Los Cuinis,” a group closely aligned with notorious cartel Jalisco New Generation or CJNG. Another defendant, Roberto Salazar, is wanted in connection to the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. Other prominent figures have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and other violent drug trafficking groups. The transfers...

One of the Sinaloa cartel leaders who launched a struggle for control of the gang following the re-arrest of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was captured Tuesday ... Damaso Lopez, known by the nickname "El Licenciado" — a title for college graduates. Lopez was long considered Guzman's right-hand man and helped him escape from a Mexican prison in 2001. Lopez, 51, is believed to have been locked in a dispute with Guzman's sons for control of the cartel's territories. The head of Mexico's federal detectives' agency, Omar Garcia Harfuch, said Lopez was "one of the main instigators of violence in Sinaloa...

Authorities in Mexico have confirmed the remains found in 45 plastic bags near Guadalajara belong to as many as eight call center employees, who were reported missing in May, according to CBS. Six men and two women were reported missing by their families between May 20 and May 22. While their families believed their loved ones worked at a typical call center, the facility was reportedly one of 19 in Mexico under investigation by the United States Department of the Treasury for possible links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). “CJNG’s deep involvement in timeshare fraud in the Puerto...

SANDY — A Utah couple is being accused of money laundering and smuggling oil into the U.S. alongside Mexican cartels, after they were arrested during a multi-state raid by U.S. Marshals, according to court documents. James Lael Jensen and his wife, Kelly Anne Jensen, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday. The couple and two of his sons are being federally indicted for allegedly conspiring to smuggle 2,881 shipments of oil from Mexico that they knew were illegal. The family is accused of moving at least $300 million from Mexico to the U.S. The couple was arrested...

A Mexican drug cartel known for gruesome public slaughtering drained $40 million from Americans, and stole many elderly victims’ life savings without a drop of blood in 2022, according to FBI stats. It’s part of a rapidly evolving timeshare scam run by the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) that is becoming more intricate, and is now estimated to be stealing hundreds of millions from Americans each year. It started as a small operation in the Puerto Vallarta area and expanded to popular tourist spots like Cancun, according to the U.S. Treasury, which issued sanctions against seven fugitives and 19 Mexican...

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio has been killed, the country’s president Guillermo Lasso has said, vowing the “crime will not go unpunished”. Local media had earlier reported Villavicencio, a former lawmaker who had been polling at 7.5%, had been shot at a campaign event in Quito.

A drug cartel in Mexico is forcing new members into cannibalism and started sharing videos of gang members feasting on the hearts of their enemies. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel took sickening footage of one of its members eating a rivals' heart straight from his mutilated chest in Zacatecas state last month. The CJNG gang has become one of the most dominant cartels in the country and operates in at least 35 states across Mexico and Puerto Rico. It is led by by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes and has started to incorporate cannibalism as part of its methods of...