Mexico Deploys 132,000 Troops After Arrests of Top CJNG Leaders

Mexico City — Mexico has deployed 132,000 military and National Guard personnel nationwide to prevent violence following the arrests of two top leaders of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Audias Flores Silva, known as “El Jardinero,” and Julio César “N,” alias “El Güero Conta,” were captured in near-simultaneous operations in the states of Nayarit and Jalisco, officials announced Tuesday.

Flores Silva was preparing to take over leadership of the CJNG after Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” was killed in a confrontation with the Mexican Army on February 22, according to Security and Citizen Protection Secretary Omar García Harfuch.

García Harfuch said Flores Silva has a provisional extradition warrant from the United States for drug trafficking and weapons charges, and also faces a re-arrest warrant in Mexico for homicide, with additional investigations ongoing by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (FGR).

“He is a high-relevance criminal operator who over more than two decades consolidated a regional structure capable of coordinating drug production and trafficking, supervising clandestine methamphetamine labs, operating aircraft and airstrips, and controlling logistics routes for moving narcotics abroad,” García Harfuch said.

Navy Secretary Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles emphasized that the operation was carried out exclusively by Mexican authorities, with intelligence support from U.S. agencies under existing agreements.

Defense Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said Julio César “N” was identified as Flores Silva’s main financial operator and trusted man, responsible for laundering illicit proceeds used to acquire weapons, aircraft, boats, ranches, and properties. He was arrested in Zapopan, Jalisco.

To contain possible reprisals, federal, state, and municipal forces deployed nearly 4,000 personnel in Jalisco at identified risk zones, border areas, highways, and prisons. The Navy deployed over 25,000 troops nationwide, while the Army and National Guard contributed 107,000 personnel, including 7,000 in Jalisco alone.

Strategic points such as Puerto Vallarta, the Nayarit border corridor, and the areas of Magdalena and San Marcos were reinforced.