
On a Sunday in February, Mexico's second-largest city ground to a standstill. Gunmen used burning cars as flaming barricades, shutting down traffic in and out of Guadalajara. Terrified zoo visitors sheltered overnight with the monkeys and kangaroos. Similar disturbances were recorded in 20 Mexican states.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico's most powerful criminal organizations, unleashed mayhem after its leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," was killed in a gun battle with federal troops. He was the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) most wanted drug lord, with a $15 million bounty on his head.