A new U.S.-military-led task force specializing in intelligence collection on drug cartels played a role in the Mexican military raid on Sunday that killed the Mexican drug lord known as 'El Mencho,' a U.S. defense official told Reuters.
The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which involves multiple U.S. government agencies, was formally launched last month with the goal of mapping out networks of drug cartel members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details on any information that the U.S.-military-led task force may have offered Mexican authorities. The official stressed the raid itself was a Mexican military operation.
A former U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity without referring specifically to the task force, said the U.S. compiled a detailed target package for El Mencho and provided it to the Mexican government for its operation.
This detailed dossier included information provided by U.S. law enforcement, U.S. intelligence, the former official said.
The former official added El Mencho was very high, if not at the top, of a list of U.S. targets in Mexico.
Mexican authorities killed drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as 'El Mencho,' during an operation designed to capture him in the western state of Jalisco. The operation set off a wave of violence, with torched cars and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states.
Mexico's defense ministry said U.S. authorities had provided "complementary information," but offered no details. A Mexican government source familiar with the operation said the Mexican government designed and executed it, and that no U.S. military personnel were physically involved.
An ex-police officer, Oseguera, 60, was the shadowy leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an international criminal enterprise widely viewed as one of Mexico's most powerful. He managed to evade arrest for years despite a $15 million bounty from the U.S. for information leading to his arrest or capture.
The kingpin's killing notches a major victory for Mexico's war on drug cartels that are responsible for smuggling billions of dollars in cocaine and fentanyl into the U.S.
President Donald Trump's administration has waged a pressure campaign on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's government to ramp up its crackdown on drug trafficking, including U.S. threats to intervene directly in Mexico.
