Mexico City, Mexico - Authorities in Mexico on Monday announced the capture of two key allies of the late Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, including his possible successor.

Oseguera died in February after being wounded during a shootout with Mexican soldiers in the western state of Jalisco, triggering a weekend of blockades and violence that left 70 people dead.

Audias Flores Silva was one of the two men captured on Monday. He was El Mencho's "right-hand man" until the drug lord's death, and is now believed to have taken over the cartel leadership.

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, security analyst David Saucedo told AFP, citing US and Mexican intelligence sources.

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

"He has an arrest warrant in Mexico and is also sought by United States authorities for extradition purposes," Harfuch wrote. "For his capture, the US government offered a reward of 5 million dollars."

In addition, the government of northeastern Tamaulipas state reported the arrest of Alexander "N," a 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 that government authorities have reestablished control, and confirmed 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, a faction of the Gulf Cartel.