Cartel Ambush in Jalisco Kills U.S.-Linked Security Consultant and Former Mexican Officials

A suspected cartel ambush in Guadalajara has claimed the lives of César Guzman, a Mexican security consultant who recently worked with the U.S. State Department, and Carlos Amador, the former undersecretary of security for Hidalgo state. The attack occurred Friday night around 9:49 p.m. at a local taco restaurant in San Pedro Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, as the men were dining following a police training course they had completed for state officers. A third instructor, Pablo Cajigal, former security chief of Chihuahua state, was critically injured. Arturo Fontes, a retired FBI agent and colleague, described the victims as “true heroes.”

Guzman and his colleagues had been instructors for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, training Mexican police in counter-drug operations in Mexico City and Querétaro. While the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara confirmed the men were not on an active mission, it expressed deep concern and offered condolences to the victims’ families, withholding further comment due to security and privacy considerations.

This incident is part of a rising wave of violence in Jalisco. It follows the recent murder of social media influencer Valeria Márquez during a TikTok livestream and several high-profile killings, including a local politician and a municipal police chief. The escalating violence has raised alarm about the reach and impunity of organized crime groups in the region.

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