This handout picture released by the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense shows Audias Flores Silva (3rd-L), one of the closest allies of Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, leader of the CNJG cartel, next to Mexican Navy soldiers in the Western state of Nayarit, Mexico, on April 27, 2026-MEXICAN SECRETARIAT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE.
Mexican authorities announced on April 27 the capture of two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and his potential successor.
Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera died in February after being wounded in a shootout with Mexican soldiers in the western state of Jalisco, unleashing a wave of highway blockades and shootouts with security forces that left over 70 people dead.
Audias Flores Silva was El Mencho's "right-hand man" until the latter's death, security analyst David Saucedo told AFP.
He had been charged with forging an alliance between the CJNG and the "Chapitos," the faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the family of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Saucedo added, citing U.S. and Mexican intelligence sources.
Special forces of the Mexican navy captured Flores Silva in the western state of Nayarit, Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said on X.
The captured man is "sought by U.S. authorities with the goal of extradition," Harfuch added.
Earlier, the government of northeastern Tamaulipas state reported the arrest of Alexander "N," member of a criminal gang that acts near the U.S.-Mexico border.
His capture provoked at least eight highway blockades by criminal groups on the highways surrounding the border city of Reynosa.
The spokesperson of Tamaulipas security forces said the authorities reestablished control, and that no one was wounded during the attacks.
