Mexican special forces have arrested Audias Flores, known as "El Jardinero" and one of the top commanders of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), in the western state of Nayarit, security minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said on Monday (April 27)

Flores - a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico's Pacific coast - was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias "El Mencho," who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February.

Security forces surrounded a cabin in El Mirador, some 20 km (12 miles) north of the popular resort city of Puerto Vallarta, where Flores was being protected by a perimeter of some 30 pickup trucks and over 60 gunmen, according to a press release from Mexico's Navy, which led the operation.

Flores' escorts scattered as a diversion but he was located as he tried to hide in a drainage ditch, it added.

"The operation was carried out with surgical precision without a single shot being fired," the Navy said in a statement.

Videos shared by Garcia Harfuch on social media showed aerial footage of the arrest as helicopters hovered overhead during the operation, which the Navy said followed 19 months of surveillance and involved more than 500 troops, six helicopters and several planes.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

EL MIRADOR, NAYARIT, MEXICO (RELEASED APRIL 27, 2026) (MEXICO SECURITY CABINET – Access all) (MUTE)

1. AUDIAS FLORES SILVA, "EL JARDINERO," GETTING OUT OF DRAINAGE DITCH/ OFFICERS HANDCUFFING FLORES SILVA

2. HANDCUFFED FLORES ON GROUND GUARDED BY OFFICERS

3. FLORES GETTING UP

UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, MEXICO (RELEASED APRIL 27, 2026) (MEXICO SECURITY CABINET – Access all)

4. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF FLORES SILVA IN FRONT OF HELICOPTER AND SURROUNDED BY OFFICERS (EDITED FROM SOURCE)

EL MIRADOR, NAYARIT, MEXICO (RELEASED APRIL 27, 2026) (MEXICO SECURITY CABINET – Access all) (MUTE)

5. VARIOUS OF HELICOPTERS FLYING OVER THE OPERATION AREA (BLURRED FROM SOURCE)

6. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF HOUSE WHERE FLORES SILVA WAS FOUND

7. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF VEHICLES OUTSIDE HOUSE

8. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF VEHICLES AND PEOPLE OUTSIDE HOUSE