On Sunday, Mexican authorities killed one of the world's most powerful drug lords.

Violence has erupted across Mexico, following the killing of the country's most wanted drug leader, known as El Mention.

It happened in Tapalpa, Halisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara.

Nemesio Osigera-Servantes was the leader of the powerful Halisco New Generation Cartel,

a major trafficker of drugs into the U.S.

His name was Nemesio Osegera, and he was known as El Mentiono.

After news spread of his death, his cartel retaliated across much of the country.

Fire, smoke, and chaos across several Mexican states.

There were roadblocks made of cars that were seized by gunmen and then sent on fire.

And some 50 people died, more than 50 people died.

Blocked highways, drivers forced out of their cars at gunpoint.

You know, it was a very scary moment for the country.

That's our colleague Jose de Cordoba, who's based in Mexico City.

Were you surprised when you saw that Mexican authorities had taken down El Mentiono?

Yes, it was a big surprise, because El Mentiono has been seen by everybody as too big and too powerful to fall.

So because he is so powerful and has operations in so many places,

many people feared that capturing or killing him would be like hitting a beast nest in the sense that it would cause a really violent reaction in lots of places in Mexico,

which in a sense is what happened. Now, people are afraid that with Mencho's death,

that that will set the stage for a lot of violence as his lieutenants fight to succeed him.

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knudsen. It's Wednesday,

February 25th. Coming up on the show, the death of Mexico's most powerful drug lord.

The world moves fast.

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