The White House confirmed on Tuesday that there are currently no known U.S. victims in the violence that erupted in Mexico following the death of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, and warned cartels about the 'serious consequences' of harming U.S. citizens. 'At this time, we have no reports of any injured, kidnapped, or dead Americans, and the Mexican drug cartels know that they cannot touch a single American or they will face serious consequences under this president, as is already happening,' said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The spokesperson for U.S. President Donald Trump indicated in an interview with Fox News that the operation 'successfully carried out by Mexican authorities' to eliminate El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was conducted with the collaboration of U.S. intelligence. 'This would not have been possible without President Trump's leadership,' Leavitt insisted, recalling that the Administration has designated Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and the 'lethal measures' taken against alleged narco-boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S. According to the White House Press Secretary, Washington is 'coordinating, cooperating, and pressuring the Mexican government to do more to end the scourge of deadly drugs entering the United States through its southern border.' Hundreds of American tourists were stranded in western Mexico after the elimination of El Mencho this Sunday unleashed a wave of violence in several Mexican cities, including Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, the latter being one of the main tourist destinations in North America. The leader of the CJNG, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the region, was the most wanted drug trafficker in Mexico. He was eliminated during an operation by the Mexican Army in Tapalpa, in the state of Jalisco, in the west of the country, and Mexican authorities confirmed that they had U.S. intelligence. In response to his death, criminals unleashed a wave of violence in nearly a third of Mexico's states, causing the death of 25 soldiers, one vigilante, and one agent from the Jalisco State Attorney General's Office, as well as 30 CJNG members, according to the official count. The criminal actions included about 85 blockades on federal highways, vehicle burnings, attacks on gas stations, stores, and banks. Photo EFE. The publication U.S. warns Mexican cartels of 'serious consequences' if they harm its citizens was first published in La Verdad Panamá.
