The Mexican Army killed a major cartel leader on Sunday.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as ‘El Mencho’, led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC).
He was captured on Sunday and died while being flown to medical care in Mexico City.
In response to his death, El Mencho’s cartel blockaded roads, firebombed buildings and killed soldiers.
Context
El Mencho rose through the ranks of Mexico’s underworld throughout the 1990s.
A U.S. court convicted him of heroin trafficking in 1994, for which he served three years in prison.
He founded JNGC in the 2000s, developing it into one of the country’s most powerful cartels.
U.S. authorities posted a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest in 2024 and designated JNGC as a terrorist organisation in 2025.
An independent conflict monitoring agency found that between 2018 and 2020, El Mencho’s cartel was linked to 298 violent events, more than seven other cartels combined.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said last year that JNGC was one of the “dominant” groups trafficking fentanyl across the country’s southern border with Mexico.
Fentanyl is a highly addictive drug that can be prescribed legally for pain.
The operation
On Sunday, the Mexican Government said its army had raided a house in Tapalpa, a town in the western state of Jalisco.
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They were able to locate him after surveilling a romantic partner, who went to visit him on Friday.
During the operation, violence broke out, with Mexican soldiers killing seven cartel members.
Of this group, four died at the scene, while three – including El Mencho – died while being transferred to medical care in Mexico City.
Mexican authorities seized weaponry from cartel members, including two rocket launchers. These were not successfully deployed during the encounter with the army.
The Government said the raid was carried out with information from the U.S, which White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a post to X.
Aftermath
The death of El Mencho has led to a wave of violence in Mexico.
His cartel imposed blockades, burnt buildings, and effectively shut down Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara.
Residents and tourists were instructed to stay indoors, as schools and businesses closed on Monday.
Mexican officials have arrested 70 people and killed at least 34 people suspected of being cartel members.
25 members of the National Guard have been killed, as well as at least one civilian who was caught in a shootout.
On Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said: “The most important thing right now is to guarantee the peace and security of the entire population. When something like this happens, what we need to do is be very coordinated and face the situation with great responsibility.”
