With a $5 million US bounty on his head and a reputation as the heir to one of the world’s deadliest drug lords, Audias Flores – better known as “El Jardinerito” – has finally been run to ground. Mexican special forces, operating in the dense Pacific coastal terrain of Nayarit state, have captured the senior Jalisco New Generation Cartel commander, dealing a potentially crippling blow to an organisation trying to regroup after the killing of its legendary leader, El Mencho.
Successor to El Mencho taken off the board
Mexican authorities have taken another decisive step in the country’s ongoing fight against drug trafficking. Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s security minister, announced via the social media platform X the capture of Audias Flores, widely known by his alias “El Jardinerito” – Spanish for “the little gardener.” The arrest was carried out by special forces in the western state of Nayarit.
Flores was listed as a regional commander for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and controlled vast territories along Mexico’s Pacific coast. He was widely tipped to succeed Nemesio Oseguera, better known as El Mencho, who was killed in February. The United States government had offered a $5m reward for information leading to Flores’s whereabouts.
A blow to America’s top synthetic drug supplier
Under El Mencho’s leadership, the CJNG became the leading supplier of synthetic drugs to the United States. The capture of El Jardinerito represents a significant blow to the cartel’s command structure.
Following the death of El Mencho, widespread unrest erupted across Mexico. Spontaneous protests broke out in several states, and in Jalisco, roads were blocked by demonstrators using burning vehicles. State authorities responded swiftly to the heightened threat level, cancelling all planned public events.
