Mexican special forces have arrested Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero” and one of the top commanders of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), in the western state of Nayarit, security minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said on Monday.
Flores – a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico’s Pacific coast – was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho,” who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February.
Security forces surrounded a cabin in El Mirador, some 12 miles north of the popular resort city of Puerto Vallarta, where Flores was being protected by a perimeter of some 30 pickup trucks and over 60 gunmen, according to a press release from Mexico’s Navy, which led the operation.
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