Mexico City, May 5 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Mexico has declared a heightened offensive against the New Generation Jalisco Cartel after the organized crime group gunned down an army helicopter and set up road blockades in four states on Friday, adding to its ongoing violent defiance of security forces that has killed at least 20 police officers in the last two months.

The new plan to target the cartel follows the government's announcement of Operation Jalisco to crack down on cartel activity as part of the country's ongoing “war on drugs.” In recent months, the New Generation Jalisco Cartel, formed five years ago, has been deepening its stronghold in the northern Mexican state of Jalisco, where the government launched the operation Friday and which it announced it would intensify on Monday.

“The full force of the Mexican state will be felt in the state of Jalisco,” said National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido. “Satisfactory results will start to be seen very soon.” Rubido said Operation Jalisco will continue until organized crime in under control in the region. The campaign will target the cartel leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” with the aim of detaining or killing the kingpin to weaken his cartel.

Another NJGC cartel boss, Heriberto Acevedo or “El Gringo,” was killed by security forces in March, provoking El Mencho and his cartel to launch a series of violent attacks, including two ambushes in March and April that killed 20 police officers.

The Jalisco Cartel's campaign of violence over the weekend, including downing the army helicopter with a grenade as well as a series of “narco-blockades” prompting clashes with police and military, left 15 dead, including six soldiers, eight cartel members, and one member of the prosecutor's office.