The leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is reportedly planning to go back to his roots and return to his home town in Michoacán.

The newspaper El Universal reported on Tuesday that Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes has advised social leaders, mayors and municipal security officials in Michoacán of his intention to move back to Naranjo de Chila.

The town is located in the Tierra Caliente municipality of Aguililla, where the CJNG was allegedly behind an ambush Monday in which 14 state police were killed.

Security authorities in several municipalities told El Universal that they had been made aware of Oseguera’s plan, adding that his intention is to make the region surrounding Aguililla his “bunker.”

The message was relayed by associates of “El Mencho” to authorities and other people in the municipalities of Tepalcatepec, Los Reyes, Tancítaro, Aquila, Coahuayana, Buenavista, Nuevo Parangaricutiro, Coalcomán and Chinicuila.

According to El Universal, recent CJNG attacks on residents in the municipalities of Tepalcatepec and Los Reyes, its bloody turf war with the Los Viagras crime gang and Monday’s ambush all serve as evidence of Oseguera’s intention to take up residence in his home town.

Preparations for Oseguera’s return – a United States DEA agent said in August that the CJNG leader was hiding out in the mountains of western Mexico – have been underway for months.

In the area of Michoacán where the Tierra Caliente, Costa, Sierra and Sierra-Costa regions meet, threats and attacks began to increase in April. Sources told El Universal that the violence is directly related to Oseguera’s desire to return home.

The kingpin wants to retire, be arrested or die in his native land, they said, adding that he intends to guarantee his security with “human walls.”

To establish the “walls,” Oseguera is seeking complete control of Aguililla as well as surrounding and nearby municipalities.

To establish control, the CJNG must defeat Los Viagras in Apatzingán and Buenavista, the sources said, and eliminate strongholds of the Caballeros Templarios in Lázaro Cárdenas and Tumbiscatío.

In other municipalities that “El Mencho” is seeking to control, the CJNG faces opposition from self-defense groups.

That opposition can be very fierce: nine presumed Jalisco Cartel hitmen were killed in clashes with citizens of Tepalcatepec in late August.

Less than two weeks later, the CJNG released a video in which a masked gunman said the cartel’s conflict isn’t against the ordinary residents of Tepalcatepec but rather Juan José “El Abuelo” Farías and a local crime gang he allegedly leads.

The speaker claimed that Farías is also a member of the Caballeros Templarios cartel or the Viagras gang and urged residents to run him out of town.

However, citizens of Tepalcatepec are wary of the intentions of the CJNG, telling El Universal that they are not willing to succumb to the cartel’s control as part of Oseguera’s strategy to stay safe in his home town.

Source: El Universal (sp)