page_title: 1 May 2015 Jalisco attacks
section_title: Government
hierarchical_section_title: 1 May 2015 Jalisco attacks / Reactions / Government
caption_attribution_description: 01-03-2013 discurso en el instituto cultural cabaÑAs
context_page_description: On 1 May 2015, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel carried out a series of attacks in Jalisco, Mexico, and four adjacent states to prevent the capture of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, their suspected leader. The operation began early that morning in Villa Purificación, where four Mexican Air Force and Federal Police helicopters spotted a CJNG convoy protecting El Mencho. As one of the helicopters flew over the convoy, the CJNG members shot it down using rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Nine law enforcement officers died as a result of the attack, and multiple others were wounded. This was the first incident in the Mexican Drug War in which organized crime groups shot down an aircraft.
  As the government extended its crackdown on the CJNG, it issued its highest security alert level and coordinated municipal, state, and federal security forces. The CJNG responded to the offensive by hijacking 39 buses, trucks, and cars throughout western Mexico, setting them on fire, and using them to block roads and highways in multiple locations. They also burned several gas stations, banks, and businesses.
context_section_description: At 1 p.m. on 1 May, President Peña Nieto made an official announcement on social media regarding the helicopter attack. He stated that he lamented the death of the soldiers killed "in the line of duty," and thanked the courage of the federal forces in combating organized crime. The government confirmed that they were planning a ceremony to honor the servicemen killed in the attack. Osorio Chong also expressed his condolences through social media. In addition, several high-ranking officials in the Army and Air Force expressed their condolences to the families. In the following days, Peña Nieto met with the families of the helicopter attack victims in private. On 4 May, the government held a ceremony at Campo Marte in Mexico City, where Peña Nieto headed a flag ceremony with the Military Service volunteers. In his speech, he thanked the Mexican Armed Forces for "risking their lives" for working to maintain peace in Mexico, and stated that the attacks from organized crime only made the government's efforts stronger. He clarified that the government had arrested or killed in action most of Mexico's most-wanted criminals. Two days later, the President held another ceremony at the Campo Militar 1-F along with the special forces general Miguel Ángel Aguirre Lara. Peña Nieto offered his condolences to the family members and gave them a Mexican flag.
  In an interview at the World Economic Forum in the Riviera Maya on 7 May, Sandoval Díaz stated that the attacks of 1 May were "acts of vandalism", not signs of narcoterrorism. He stated that the word "narcoterrorism" was not defined under Mexican law and thereby did not carry legal weight. He argued that the detainees arrested that day were under the influence of drugs and were paid between MXN$500 and MXN$1,000 to commit the attacks. When asked whether there was a leak of information from the police's side to the CJNG, he stated that he was not aware of any illegal intelligence sharing between law enforcement and organized crime. A reporter asked him whether the helicopter attack counted as vandalism too, and he clarified that that attack was different from the roadblocks and arson reported elsewhere in Jalisco. He also stated that it was not the government's intention to minimize the incidents of 1 May by not categorizing them as terrorist acts. Sandoval Díaz argued that the CJNG placed roadblocks to create chaos among the civil population and to slow law enforcement's mobility. He explained that the roadblocks forced security forces to divide their units to restore order and clear up the streets, allowing the CJNG members to escape. He attributed the root cause of the violence to the balkanization of organized crime groups in Jalisco and the nearby regions. His remarks, however, drew criticism after the media considered that the government was being dismissive of the severity of the attacks.
  On 8 May, suspected members of the CJNG put up a banner near a Los Niños Héroes monument in Autlán threatening federal forces stationed there. They gave an ultimatum saying that the forces had one month to leave the town before they would take action. "We will kill every soldier we see in the street," the banner read. The government took the threat seriously and reacted by tightening security in Autlán, the coastal region of Jalisco, and in the southern part of the state. The banner was supposedly signed by four suspected CJNG local leaders known by the aliases "El 24," "El 7," "Japo," and "Vaquero." These banners are commonly used by organized crime groups as propaganda.
  On 10 May, federal forces revisited Villa Purificación, where the attack occurred, in several helicopters. They were accompanied by additional troops on the ground. On 11 May, Governor Sandoval Díaz held a meeting at El Grullo with several mayors from Región Costa Sur and Región Sierra de Amula (es), two regions in Jalisco. Among those present were Jalisco's secretary general Roberto López Lara and Army General Miguel Gustavo González Cruz, the head of Operation Jalisco. Outside of the building where they met, the police disp
caption: Jalisco Governor Jorge Aristóteles Sandoval Díaz in a press conference
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