TAPALPA, Mexico (AP) 鈥� A day after the Mexican army , 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 and put the country on edge. Cartel fighters continued to block roads as smoke rose on the outskirts of the town in the state of Jalisco.
More than 70 people died in the and the aftermath, authorities said Monday. Known as 鈥淓l Mencho,鈥� he was of the , one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.
The body count taken by security officials included security forces, suspected cartel members and others. Officials did not offer details, and the circumstances of most of the deaths were unclear.
Fast-growing cartel
Oseguera Cervantes was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against Mexican government officials. The organization responded with widespread violence, including erecting more than 250 roadblocks across 20 states and setting fire to vehicles.
The capo died after a shootout with the Mexican military on Sunday. Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla said Monday that authorities had to his hideout in Tapalpa.
The cartel leader and two bodyguards fled into a wooded area where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. They were taken into custody and died on the way to Mexico City, Trevilla said.
In a different location in Jalisco, soldiers killed another high-ranking cartel member who Trevilla said was coordinating violence and offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed.
Mexican authorities reported that 25 members of the Mexican National Guard were killed in six separate attacks, while some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, and four others in the neighboring state of Michoacan. Also killed were a prison guard and an agent from the state prosecutor鈥檚 office.
The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico鈥檚 army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Violence surges in Jalisco
Mexico hoped the death of the world鈥檚 biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many people were anxious as they waited to see the powerful cartel鈥檚 reaction.
As the threat of more violence loomed, several Mexican states canceled school Monday, while local and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside.
Steve Perkins, 57, had been visiting Puerto Vallarta with his wife and friends. The couple was scheduled to return to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on Monday when their flight was canceled.
Perkins said he and his wife were having coffee on the terrace of their hotel room in downtown when they heard rounds of explosions and gunshots, and saw smoke billowing over the city around 8:30 a.m.
鈥淭he entire downtown in the bay was just covered in thick black smoke, pretty scary,鈥� Perkins said. 鈥淎nd then at one point, we heard screams. We heard a lot of screams 鈥� So then we started getting really worried.鈥�
Perkins and his wife traded out their flip-flops for running shoes in case 鈥渨e needed to make a run for it.鈥�
鈥淢y wife called our kids to tell them goodbye if we were never gonna see them again,” Perkins said.
The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and in the state of Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday. It warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.
Many fear what comes next
In Guadalajara, the state capital, some ventured out into the streets to work and buy supplies, a notable change from Sunday, when Mexico’s second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
More than 1,000 people were stuck overnight in Guadalajara鈥檚 zoo, where they slept in buses. Families were left stranded, unable to return home to nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan, said Luis Soto Rend贸n, the zoo鈥檚 director.
鈥淲e decided to let people stay inside the zoo for their safety,鈥� Soto said. 鈥淲e have everyone from small children to senior citizens.鈥�
Jos茅 Luis Ram铆rez, a 54-year-old therapist, was in a long line of people waiting outside a pharmacy, one of the few businesses that were open Monday in Guadalajara. Families were buying food, medicine, water, diapers and baby formula, from pharmacists through a chained door.
It was Ram铆rez鈥檚 first time leaving the house since the violence erupted.
鈥淲e have to not think scared, but be cool-headed, like they say, and take things as they come,鈥� he said.
Those who had to work carefully made their way across the city.
Irma Hern谩ndez, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, normally takes public transportation to her job, but buses were not running, and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.
鈥淚 am worried because I don’t know how to get home if something happens,鈥� she said.
Trump has pressed Mexico to fight fentanyl
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of fentanyl, threatening to or take if the country does not show results.
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The began operating around 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization. It has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military 鈥� including on helicopters 鈥� and is a .
At a blockade Monday on the outskirts of Tapalpa, 25-year-old Joel Ram铆rez and two friends were waiting for soldiers to clear a blockade of tree limbs. He hauls things in his pickup for a living and had not been able to get home since Sunday’s violence.
鈥淓verything seems calmer, but we were almost there and got stuck,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re scared.鈥�
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Verza reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers Fabiola S谩nchez in Mexico City and Juan Lozano in Houston also contributed to this report.
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