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That witness died Saturday in a fiery car crash in San Antonio, according to a lawyer for Martinez's family.

Joshua Orta rode with Martinez on a Spring Break trip last March when they came upon a group of local police and federal agents directing traffic around an accident at a busy intersection. In a statement issued Friday, the Department of Homeland Security alleged that Martinez "intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent," thereby causing another agent to fire "defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public."

The Associated Press and other media outletsreported last week on details of Martinez's death, which would mark at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since President Donald Trump's coast-to-coast immigration crackdown. DHS made no public disclosure for 11 months that one of its agents pulled the trigger.

According to the draft affidavit prepared following interviews in September, Orta reportedly said that Martinez did not hit an officer with his vehicle, that their car was "just crawling as we were trying to turn around" and that a federal agent fired into the driver's side window from about two feet away without "giving any warning, commands, or opportunity to comply."

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San Antonio Police said a 25-year-old man was killed Saturday when he drove into a curved highway exit at a high rate of speed before losing control and slamming into a utility pole. Passengers were able to escape as the vehicle caught fire, but they were unable to pull out the driver.

Lawyers for Rachel Reyes, Martinez's mother, said Orta was the man who was killed in the car accident. The draft affidavit indicated Martinez's family is preparing to file a wrongful death lawsuit in the earlier shooting.

"First and foremost, Joshua's death is an awful tragedy for his family and friends," said Alex Stamm, one of the lawyers representing the family. "In terms of Ruben's death, the world has also now lost a critical eyewitness."

DHS on Monday said: "We stand by our original statement."

The Texas Rangers confirmed last week they are investigating Martinez's shooting. The agency did not respond to questions Monday about whether they had interviewed Orta prior to his death.

Orta's account contradicts DHS

Orta and Martinez decided to take a spontaneous trip to Texas' South Padre Island to meet up with friends, according to Orta's draft affidavit. After hanging out in a condo and having a "few drinks," then a pool party and a trip to Whataburger, they arrived at the scene of an accident and slowed the car down, Orta said.A local police officer approached their car, saw an open alcohol container in the back, but told the two young men to turn around and leave, he said. As they tried to turn in the traffic, another officer walked up to their car and slapped the hood and "seemed to be trying to get in front of the car," said Orta.Martinez "did not hit anyone," Orta said.Then several more officers surrounded their vehicle, yelling at them to stop and drawing their guns, Orta recounted. "This was crazy to me because we were only crawling," he said, adding that Martinez never hit the gas and the officers weren't in any danger.An officer standing by Martinez's open driver's side window then pulled his weapon and fired without warning, so close the bullet casings ejected from his weapon landed inside the vehicle, he said.Orta recounted hearing his friend say "I'm sorry" as he slumped backward unconscious after being stuck in the chest. He said agents then pulled Martinez from the car and handcuffed him, waiting at least 10 minutes before providing any medical aid.Reyes, Martinez's mother, told AP last week her son was shot three times. She also said an investigator from the Texas Rangers had obtained videos of the shooting that she said undercut DHS's claim her son tried to run over the agent.Similarities to other shootingsAccording to an internal incident report from Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement that was released earlier this month after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the HSI agents involved in the shooting were part of a maritime border enforcement security task force typically focused on combating transnational criminal organizations at seaports. Over the past year, however, officers from across multiple federal agencies have been reassigned to prioritize immigration enforcement.In January,Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother in Minneapolis, was killed in the driver's seat of her SUV by an ICE officer. Trump administration officials initially attempted to paint Good as a "domestic terrorist" who tried to ram officers with her vehicle beforemultiple videos emergedof the incident that cast doubt on the government's narrative.Law enforcement officers are typicallytrained not to step in front of vehiclesdue to the danger they might be struck. Like Good, Martinez had no criminal record.Stamm, the family's lawyer, said Orta's account confirmed Martinez's car was barely moving before the HSI officer opened fire."He also told us unequivocally that Ruben did not hit anyone," Stamm said. "We believe Joshua's account, and, as we have seen recently in Minneapolis, Chicago, and elsewhere, it is critical that the public be shown every piece of evidence in the government's possession, and that any witness come forward."___Bedayn reported from Denver.

Orta and Martinez decided to take a spontaneous trip to Texas' South Padre Island to meet up with friends, according to Orta's draft affidavit. After hanging out in a condo and having a "few drinks," then a pool party and a trip to Whataburger, they arrived at the scene of an accident and slowed the car down, Orta said.

A local police officer approached their car, saw an open alcohol container in the back, but told the two young men to turn around and leave, he said. As they tried to turn in the traffic, another officer walked up to their car and slapped the hood and "seemed to be trying to get in front of the car," said Orta.

Martinez "did not hit anyone," Orta said.

Then several more officers surrounded their vehicle, yelling at them to stop and drawing their guns, Orta recounted. "This was crazy to me because we were only crawling," he said, adding that Martinez never hit the gas and the officers weren't in any danger.

An officer standing by Martinez's open driver's side window then pulled his weapon and fired without warning, so close the bullet casings ejected from his weapon landed inside the vehicle, he said.

Orta recounted hearing his friend say "I'm sorry" as he slumped backward unconscious after being stuck in the chest. He said agents then pulled Martinez from the car and handcuffed him, waiting at least 10 minutes before providing any medical aid.

Reyes, Martinez's mother, told AP last week her son was shot three times. She also said an investigator from the Texas Rangers had obtained videos of the shooting that she said undercut DHS's claim her son tried to run over the agent.

Similarities to other shootings

According to an internal incident report from Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement that was released earlier this month after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the HSI agents involved in the shooting were part of a maritime border enforcement security task force typically focused on combating transnational criminal organizations at seaports. Over the past year, however, officers from across multiple federal agencies have been reassigned to prioritize immigration enforcement.

In January,Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother in Minneapolis, was killed in the driver's seat of her SUV by an ICE officer. Trump administration officials initially attempted to paint Good as a "domestic terrorist" who tried to ram officers with her vehicle beforemultiple videos emergedof the incident that cast doubt on the government's narrative.

Law enforcement officers are typicallytrained not to step in front of vehiclesdue to the danger they might be struck. Like Good, Martinez had no criminal record.

Stamm, the family's lawyer, said Orta's account confirmed Martinez's car was barely moving before the HSI officer opened fire.

"He also told us unequivocally that Ruben did not hit anyone," Stamm said. "We believe Joshua's account, and, as we have seen recently in Minneapolis, Chicago, and elsewhere, it is critical that the public be shown every piece of evidence in the government's possession, and that any witness come forward."

Bedayn reported from Denver.

Shops and cars were set ablaze, allegedlyby cartel members. Tourists and residents cowered in fear.

The Mexican military killedNemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known by his nickname "El Mencho,"the head of the New Generation drug cartel, Sunday in a shoot-out 180 miles east of Puerto Vallarta, in the same state of Jalisco. Mexico had a $15 million reward for his capture.

A day after the violence broke out, streets were deserted Monday as locals and tourists heeded remain-in-place orders. Schools in several states canceled classes,The Associated Press reported.

Burned-out shells of vehicles remained on the streets, while damaged stores were heavily scorched from flames, videos showed.

"We saw the taxicabs all blown up and blocking the streets and people running down and towards us," Jim Beck, an American tourist who sheltered in his Puerto Vallarta hotel, told NBC's "TODAY" show. "After this morning was the first time we actually felt fear."

Marcus Brady, a Chicago resident currently in Puerto Vallarta, shared videos of the violence with NBC News. He said he thought the cartel's intent was to send a message to the Mexican government and American and Canadian tourists that, "If we want to, we will take complete control of everything and everyone here, no one can stop us."

He said the violence happened in two waves starting early Sunday morning. First, a few cars were set on fire on the main road and bridges in and out of the Zona Romántica area of Puerto Vallarta, he said, with much of that taking place in an area behind foothills.

"When those fires were going out, everyone thought it was over. I know I did. So many of us thought it OK to venture out and I decided to walk down to the boardwalk, through the zone," Brady said.

But the second wave was the worst, targeted inside the zone, he said. Brady said he mistook buses and taxis positioned at intersections as barricades to prevent violence, but they had been put there by the cartel during the night. "And when the second wave started, they coordinated setting them on fire, so it would last all day. The intention was to terrify," he said.

A video from NBC Dallas-Fort Worth showed several cars in the parking lot of a Costco set ablaze.

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Yoni Pizer told NBC Chicago that he, his husband and friends had to run for their lives to escape what he said were members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Puerto Vallarta.

"The gunmen were following us and they were shooting," Pizer said. "And they were attacking cars and pulling out drivers. At that point, we just ran as fast as we could." His SUV was torched, but a passerby helped them get away.

Video on social media from Sunday showed sirens blaring andpassengers and workers runningthrough the airport in Puerto Vallarta. It was unclear why the sirens went off or why people were running. Images showed a long line ofpeople hiding behind ticket counters.

Road closures affected some travelers' ability to get to airports, according to U.S. and Mexican embassy and consulate officials.

Steven Polito, a drag performer who divides his time between New York City and Puerto Vallarta, said in an essay forBusiness Insiderthat he was struck by how "unusually quiet it was" when he went to gym at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

"When I left around 10:00 a.m., it was a very different scene," Polito said. "Everyday life was juxtaposed against horrendous property againsthorrendous property damage. There was an older woman sweeping leaves in the street, while burned-out car after burned-out car was in flames."

Over at Guadalajara International Airport, officials said,the violence in the nearby cities did not affect theiroperations. It said social media reports did not reflect what was happening at the airport.

But the violence was not confined to Puerto Vallarta.

Jalisco's capital, Guadalajara, appeared deserted Sunday night as civilians hunkered down. Authorities later announced they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states.

Omar Casillas was running a half marathon, about to cross the finish line when things became chaotic. He began getting texts from his family telling him to "barricade the door, pack all your stuff, be ready to leave if you need to, if you have the chance to," NBC Chicago reported.

Casillas' flight out of Guadalajara's airport was canceled.

Avideo posted onlineshows a customs booth in Reynosa, Mexico, about 5 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, filled with flames and smoke.

The person was taken to a hospital, officials said.

The FBI said the shots were fired around 1 a.m. Sunday in Pittsburg, a town of about 800 people at the border with Canada. The agency did not provide a name of the suspect, but said the person was receiving medical attention at a hospital.

The Border Patrol agent, whom the FBI also did not name, was unharmed, an agency spokesperson said.

Pittsburg is a rural community that is home to the state's sole border crossing with the Canadian province of Quebec.

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The shots were fired near the port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said. The FBI's Boston field office will be investigating the shooting along with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of New Hampshire, authorities said.

"Initial reports indicate that the subject opened fire on the agent at which time the agent returned fire," Scott said in a statement. "CBP is cooperating fully with investigators."

Officials with the FBI, CBP and U.S. Attorney's Office declined to provide more detail on the suspect or the circumstances that led to the exchange of gunfire. The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement that information would be released if charges are brought against the person.

Pittsburg is about 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of the state capital of Concord. The town borders Maine and Vermont as well as Canada. The shooting took place near a usually quiet crossing in the only town in New Hampshire that borders Canada. That international border stretches for close to 60 miles (97 kilometers).

Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned countries against backing away from recently negotiated trade deals with the U.S. after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs, saying that if they did, ‌he would hit them with much higher duties under different trade laws.

Trump, in a series of social media posts, said he also may ‌impose license fees on trading partners as uncertainty over his next tariff moves gripped the global economy and sent stocks lower.

"Any Country that wants to 'play games' with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially ​those that have 'Ripped Off' the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to. BUYER BEWARE!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said that despite the court's decision to invalidate his tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, its decision affirmed his ability to use tariffs under other legal authorities "in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used."

He suggested that ‌the U.S. could impose new license fees on trading partners, ⁠but did not provide any details.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Trade Representative's office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on Trump's plans.

In Brussels, the European Parliament decided on Monday to postpone a vote on the European Union's ⁠trade deal with the U.S. after Trump imposed a new temporary import duty of 15% on imports from all countries.

EU goods under the deal would face a 15% U.S. tariff, with exemptions for hundreds of food items, aircraft parts, critical minerals, pharmaceutical ingredients and other goods, while the EU would remove duties on many imports from the U.S., ​including ​industrial goods.

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Trump on Friday initially announced the temporary duty under Section 122 of the Trade ​Act of 1974 at 10%, but raised it to 15%, ‌the maximum allowed under the statute, on Saturday.

The new duty is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT) on Tuesday. At that same moment, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said it would stop collecting the now-illegal IEEPA duties, more than three days after the Supreme Court's ruling.

UNCERTAINTY UNNERVES MARKETS

Wall Street stocks ended lower on Monday as renewed tariff uncertainty following the Supreme Court decision and concerns about artificial intelligence-fueled disruption unnerved investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.65%, the S&P 500 fell 1.02%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.01%. The dollar weakened against the euro and the yen.

The path forward for Trump's ‌foreign trade deals remained uncertain, with China urging Washington to scrap tariff measures, the ​EU freeze on its approval and India delaying planned talks.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said over ​the weekend that the Trump administration expected to open new Section 301 ​unfair trade practices investigations on several countries, a legal step expected to allow it to threaten new tariffs.

A group of ‌22 Democratic U.S. senators introduced legislation aimed at forcing the Trump ​administration to issue refunds for all of ​the now-illegal IEEPA-based tariffs within 180 days, but it faced an uncertain path to a vote.

Trump used his social media post to again lash out against the justices who ruled against him, which included two who he had appointed during his first term in the White House. In ​its ruling, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, ‌the court reasserted its power to check the power of the president.

The president also expressed concern that the top court could rule against ​his administration's bid to restrict birthright citizenship in its forthcoming decision in that case.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, David Lawder and Doina Chiacu, ​writing by David Lawder; Editing by Doina Chiacu, William Maclean and Nick Zieminski)

"Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated," Trump said in an address to the nation.

The Pentagon backed up Trump's assessment.

Trump considering initial limited strike against Iran, source says

"It's delayed by one to two years. I think we're thinking probably closer to two years," chief spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters in July.

Now, eight months later, the president is once again weighing military strikes against Iran with the administration providing shifting explanations on the goals. In recent weeks, Trump has said he wanted to stop Tehran's recentdeadly crackdown on protestors-- which he said ended at his behest -- as well to curb Iran's ballistic missile arsenal and its nuclear program.

Last week, Trump gave Iran 15 days to cut a deal that would prohibit Iran from enriching uranium. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refused, saying the country has the right to a nuclear program, which he says is for peaceful purposes.

This weekend, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff suggested the urgency has to do with Iran being dangerously close to obtaining enough highly enriched uranium to make a bomb.

"They're probably a week away from having industrial-grade, bomb-making material, and that's really dangerous. So, [we] can't have that," Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News that aired on Saturday.

But analysts and international inspectors say Iran's access to highly enriched uranium has been a concern for several months already, along with satellite imagery suggesting that Iran is trying to rebuild. An exact picture of Iran's nuclear program is unclear because Iran blocked international inspectors from accessing the sites after the June bombing.

2nd US carrier group heads toward Middle East amid Iran tensions

When asked why the president is focusing on cutting an urgent deal on a nuclear program he says he obliterated months ago, a White House official said "the President has been clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons or the capacity to build them, and that they cannot enrich uranium."

Last summer, an early classified assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded the three nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. weren't completely destroyed, leaving much of the materials buried but intact.

Likewise, Rafael Grossi, head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a February interview with the French television network TFI that he believes much Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium likely remains at the sites bombed by the U.S.

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According to a translation, Grossi said "some of it [the enriched uranium] may be less accessible, but the material is still there."

The IAEA estimates that some 972 pounds of highly enriched uranium remained unaccounted for following the U.S. bombing.

Analysts say a more critical question about Iran is whether the regime has made a decision on how quickly to move toward trying to build a bomb.

In arecent analysis,the Institute for Science and International Security estimated the current probability that the Iranian regime would decide to build a nuclear weapon at 40 to 50 percent.

If Iran decides to move ahead, the group says, its success in building a weapon would probably be even lower -- less than 15% in a short period of time, and 42% over a longer timeframe.

"The war saw the destruction of its gas centrifuge program and much of its nuclear weaponization facilities," according to the group's analysis.

"Nonetheless, important remnants and knowledge remain that could form the core of small gas centrifuge enrichment and nuclear weaponization capabilities," the report added.

How bunker-busters and B-2 stealth bombers struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear program

ABC News confirmed last week that among the options Trump is considering is a limited strike against Iran to force its hand negotiating. If that doesn't work, Trump could pursue a possible sustained military operation intended to topple the regime -- a campaign that could last weeks and pose risks to the 30,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops stationed in the region, experts say.

Trump pushed back Monday against media reports that his top military adviser, Gen. Dan Caine, privately cautioned that a lack of munitions and support from allies could pose risks to U.S. troops.

"General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won," Trump posted on his social media platform.

According to a U.S. official, Tehran was expected to offer a new nuclear proposal by Tuesday ahead of another round of negotiations in Geneva led by Witkoff on Thursday. The meeting would be the second round of indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran, with Omanis and Qataris passing notes between the delegations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Iran during a speech to the Knesset on Monday, warning the Iranian ayatollah if Iran strikes Israel, "we will respond with a force they cannot even imagine," according to remarks of his speech google translated from Hebrew to English.

"No one knows what the day will bring. We are vigilant, we are prepared for any scenario," Netanyahu said.

ABC News' Shannon Kingston and Jordana Miller contributed to this report.

Both men are suspected of improperly passing U.K. government information to the disgraced U.S. financier, and the high-profile British arrests are some of the most dramatic fallout from thetrove of more than 3 million pagesof Epstein-related documents released last month by the U.S. Justice Department.

London's Metropolitan Police force said "officers have arrested a 72-year-old man on suspicion of misconduct in public office" at an address in north London. He was taken to a police station for questioning.

The man was not named, in keeping with British police practice, but the suspect in the case previously was identified as the former diplomat, who is 72. Mandelson was filmed being led from his London home to a car by plainclothes officers on Monday afternoon.

Under U.K. law, police can hold a suspect without charge for up to 24 hours. This can be extended to a maximum of 96 hours. Mandelson could be charged, released unconditionally or released while investigations continue.

Claims of leaked government information

Police are investigating Mandelson over claims he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

His arrest came four days afterAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, was arrested in a separate case on suspicion of a similar offense related to his friendship with Epstein. Andrew was released after 11 hours in custody while the police investigation continues.

Mandelson served in senior government roles under previous Labour governments and was U.K. ambassador to Washington until Prime Minister Keir Starmerfired him in Septemberafter emails were published showing that he maintained a friendship with Epstein after the financier's 2008 conviction for sex offenses involving a minor.

The files released in January contained more explosive revelations about Mandelson's ties to Epstein, whom he once called "my best pal."

Messages suggest that Mandelson passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to Epstein in 2009, when Mandelson was a senior minister in the British government. That includes an internal government report discussing ways the U.K. could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson also appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers' bonuses.

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British police launched a criminal probe earlier this month andsearched Mandelson's two housesin London and western England.

Thedecision to appoint Mandelson nearly cost Starmer his jobearlier this month, as questions swirled around his judgment about someone who has flirted with controversy during a decades-long political career.

Though he acknowledged he made a mistake and apologized to victims of Epstein,Starmer's position remains precarious. His future may rest on the release of files connected to Mandelson's appointment. The government has pledged to begin releasing those documents in early March, though the timeline may be complicated by his arrest.

Mandelson a contentious figure

Mandelson has been a major, if contentious, figure in the center-left Labour Party for decades. He is a skilled — critics say ruthless — political operator whose mastery of political intrigue earned him the nickname "Prince of Darkness."

The grandson of former Labour Cabinet minister Herbert Morrison, he was an architect of the party's return to power in 1997 as centrist, modernizing "New Labour" under Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mandelson served in senior government posts under Blair between 1997 and 2001, and under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010. In between, he was the European Union's trade commissioner. Brown has been particularly angered by the revelations and has been helping police with their inquiries.

Mandelson twice had to resign from government during the Blair administration over allegations of financial or ethical impropriety, acknowledging mistakes but denying wrongdoing.

He later returned to government and was back on the political front line when Starmer named him ambassador to Washington at the start of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term. Mandelson's trade expertise and comfort around the ultra-rich were considered major assets. He helped secure a trade deal in May that spared Britain some of the tariffs Trump has imposed on countries around the world.

The status of the deal is now up in the air after Trump announced a new set of global tariffs in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision quashing his previous import tax order.

Earlier this month Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords, Parliament's upper chamber, to which he was appointed for life in 2008. But he still has the title — Lord Mandelson — that went with it.

Authorities announced Sunday, Feb. 22, that the Mexican military killedNemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, commonly known as"El Mencho."

The death triggered "27 cowardly attacks against authorities in Jalisco," Mexican Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch told reporters on Monday. He said that 30 cartel operatives were killed, as well as one bystander and at least 70 people were arrested in seven states.

Here's what to know.

After Mexican officials announced a powerful Mexican cartel leader was killed during a military operation on Sunday, several regions of the country are grappling with ongoing security risks and unrest.
Police officers secure the area where vehicles were set on fire by organized crime members to block a road following a military operation in which a government source said Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed, in Zapopan, Mexico, Feb. 22, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Mexican Army personnel stand guard as passengers leave Guadalajara International Airport in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco State, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Photos show Mexico unrest after cartel leader 'El Mencho' killed

After Mexican officials announced apowerful Mexican cartel leaderwas killed during a military operation on Sunday, several regions of the country are grappling withongoing security risks and unrest.Police officers secure the area where vehicles were set on fire by organized crime members to block a road following a military operation in which a government source said Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed, in Zapopan, Mexico, Feb. 22, 2026.

Where are there shelter-in-place advisories?

TheU.S. State Department on Monday, Feb. 23,urged U.S. citizens to shelter in places if they were in Jalisco State, where Puerto Vallarta, a popular beach town, is located, and Nayarit, which is near Puerto Vallarta.

Multiple airlines are now operating from Guadalajara and from Puerto Vallarta as of Monday, Feb. 23, according to theState Department. Several airlines, including Air Canada, United Airlines and Aeromexico, had canceled flights to the area due to the violence.

The State Department on Feb. 23 said it "fielded hundreds of calls" from travelers in Mexico with "most pertaining to flight cancellations." The call center is operating 24/7, the State Department said.

How was 'El Mencho' caught?

Mexican Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo told reporters that a close associate of El Mencho, who was known to the Mexican military, on Feb. 20 delivered one of the kingpin Oseguera Cervantes's romantic partners to a property in the pine-studded vacation spot of Tapalpa in Jalisco state. Authorities tracked their movements.

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The paramour met with her secretive boyfriend, stayed overnight and left the property on Feb. 21. Oseguera Cervantes stayed behind with his personal security detail.

Ground troops moved in Feb. 22, under the cover of darkness. The intention, Trevilla Trejo said, was to "detain" El Mencho. From intelligence, the defense minister said the military knew the kingpin's security detail was heavily armed – outfitted with long arms and rocket launchers – and troops planned for a siege.

Oseguera Cervantes and at least two bodyguards fled toward cabins in the pine woods outside of Tapalpa, Trevilla Trejo said. Special forces found him hidden in the brush and four men were fatally wounded in the firefight: El Mencho, two bodyguards and a Mexican military officer.

Who was 'El Mencho'?

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, commonly known as "El Mencho," rose through the ranks and launched a deadly coup to become the leader of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).

The criminal enterprise rapidly grew into a continent-spanning empire that rivaled its former allies in the Sinaloa Cartel, run by kingpinJoaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is serving life in prison.

He was bornRubén Oseguera Cervanteson July 17, 1966, in the small farming city of Aguililla in the western state of Michoacán, according toThe Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. He later adopted the name Nemesio, some say to honor his godfather. It was shortened to "El Mencho" and has no other known meaning.

Contributing: Lauren Villagran, Francesca Chambers, Greta Cross and N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY; Beth Warren, USA TODAY Network

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Violence erupted in Mexico after cartel leader killed. What to know.