Jalisco Drug Cartel Commander El Jardinero Found Hiding in Ditch

Mexican Navy Conducts Special Forces Operation, Arrests Jalisco New Generation Cartel Commander

The Mexican Navy has announced that its special forces have apprehended Audias Flores, also known as “El Jardinero”, a top commander of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). According to officials, the operation was carried out without any shots being fired. The arrest was part of an extensive surveillance effort involving over 500 troops, six helicopters, and several planes.

Flores was detained in Nayarit, where he had been hiding in a cabin surrounded by a perimeter of pick-up trucks and gunmen. His escorts scattered as a diversion, but Flores was located in a drainage ditch. The operation was described as having “surgical precision” without any violence.

In addition to Flores, the financial operator of the cartel, Cesar Alejandro “N”, alias “El Guero Conta”, was also arrested in a joint security operation in Zapopan. He is accused of laundering funds and acquiring assets through illicit activities.

The Mexican government has confirmed that the US government offered a reward of $5 million for Flores’s capture. The arrest comes as Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum warned about the need to prevent unauthorized US operations in her country, following recent incidents involving CIA agents.

Sheinbaum stated that the incident was an isolated case and expressed hope that such events would not recur. The Mexican leader also urged authorities to clarify the details of a separate operation in Chihuahua, where two Mexican officials died in a car crash along with two CIA agents on April 19.

Source: Al Jazeera