An increasingly strong drug cartel known as Jalisco New Generation was demonstrating its power when it staged an outbreak of violence that killed seven people and forced down a military helicopter in western Mexico, analysts said on Saturday.

Jalisco state was relatively calm the day after gunmen set fire to cars, buses, banks and gasoline stations and traded gunfire with soldiers and police. The violence erupted after security forces launched a campaign against the cartel on Friday.

State authorities remained on red alert in and around Jalisco's capital of Guadalajara, with heavy police patrols and fewer people than usual on the streets on Saturday.