MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP)—Mexican authorities announced on Monday the capture of two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and his potential successor.

Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera died in February after being wounded in a shootout with Mexican soldiers in the western state of Jalisco, unleashing a wave of highway blockades and shootouts with security forces that left over 70 people dead.

Audias Flores Silva was El Mencho’s “right-hand man” until the latter’s death, security analyst David Saucedo told AFP.

He had been charged with forging an alliance between the CJNG and the “Chapitos,” the faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the family of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Saucedo added, citing US and Mexican intelligence sources.

The think tank Insight Crime described Flores Silva, nicknamed “The Gardener” (El Jardinero), as one of El Mencho’s possible successors.

Special forces of the Mexican navy captured Flores Silva in the western state of Nayarit, Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said on X.

The captured man is “sought by US authorities with the goal of extradition,” Harfuch added.

Earlier, the government of northeastern Tamaulipas state reported the arrest of Alexander “N,” member of a criminal gang that acts near the US-Mexico border.

His capture provoked at least eight highway blockades by criminal groups on the highways surrounding the border city of Reynosa.

The spokesperson of Tamaulipas security forces said the authorities reestablished control, and that no one was wounded during the attacks.

Mexican news outlets identified the criminal as Alexander Benavides Flores, or “R9,” the head of Los Metros.

The Metros are one of the factions of the Gulf Cartel, weakened over the course of the last decade following the capture of their leaders.

The city of Reynosa has 690,000 inhabitants and sits across the river from McAllen, Texas.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has pressured his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum to crack down on organized crime gangs.

Sheinbaum has repeatedly rejected US offers of drone strikes or ground troops for fighting Mexican cartels.