Day 37: O3 Cements Collective Council Structure; Operativo Enjambre Approach Enters Institutionalization Phase

Day 37 since El Mencho's killing at Tapalpa, Jalisco (February 22, 2026). O3 (Juan Carlos Valencia González), El Mencho's U.S.-born stepson, continues cementing his position under the collective council structure reported by the Wall Street Journal and U.S. NCTC — the approach avoids a single throne that could make him an immediate high-value targeting priority while still maintaining Grupo Élite as the cartel's enforceable power backbone. El Jardinero (Audias Flores Silva) remains the primary active high-value target carrying a $5 million U.S. State Department bounty; his continued freedom represents the most significant unresolved targeting objective of the post-Tapalpa campaign. The fourth succession candidate identified by U.S. intelligence — Heraclio Guerrero Martínez ('Tío Lako') — continues managing logistics and corridor operations in northern and central Mexico. Operativo Enjambre has now produced documented arrests of dozens of CJNG-linked local officials across Jalisco and Michoacán; security analysts at WOLA and the Wilson Center note the operation is approaching an institutionalization phase — transitioning from reactive sweeps to a structured anti-corruption framework designed to prevent future municipal infiltration. DEA and HSI liaisons continue high-tempo intelligence-sharing operations under the Joint Interagency Task Force–Counter Cartel (JITC-CC) framework. No new senior-command-level captures have been publicly confirmed for Day 37.