EXCLUSIVE-New US military-led group aided Mexico's hunt for 'El Mencho' cartel boss

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A new U.S.-military-led task force specializing in intelligence collection on drug cartels played a role in the Mexican military raid on Sunday that killed the Mexican drug lord known as 'El Mencho,' a U.S. defense official told Reuters.

The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which involves multiple U.S. government agencies, was quietly launched late last year with the goal of mapping out networks of drug cartel members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details on any information that the U.S.-military-led task force may have offered Mexican authorities. The official stressed the raid itself was a Mexican military operation.

Mexico's defense ministry said a shootout in the western state of Jalisco left Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as 'El Mencho,' seriously injured and he died during an air transfer to Mexico City. The ministry noted that U.S. authorities had provided "complementary information."

The operation set off a wave of violence, with torched cars and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states.