Who was ‘El Mencho’, Mexico’s most wanted drug trafficker killed in military operation

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was one of the founders of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación. US State Department via BBC The Mexican Army reported that it killed this Sunday (22/2) the powerful drug trafficker Nemesio Oseguera. Known as “El Mencho”, he was leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) and one of the most wanted men in Mexico and the United States. The military operation was carried out in the municipality of Tapalpa, 130 kilometers south of Guadalajara, capital of Jalisco — the host state of four matches of the next 2026 World Cup. Under the leadership of “El Mencho”, the CJNG became one of the most powerful and violent criminal organizations in the country. Supposed members of organized crime responded to the drug dealer’s death by blocking several roads in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán (western Mexico) and Tamaulipas (north), amid clashes with federal security forces. In Guanajuato, there were fires in pharmacies and stores. The governor of Jalisco, Pablo Lemus, confirmed that the operation resulted in “clashes in the region” and that, as a reaction, “in different parts of Jalisco individuals burned and crossed vehicles to prevent the authorities from taking action.” The U.S. embassy in Mexico released a statement saying that “due to ongoing security operations in several states and related highway blockades and criminal activity, U.S. citizens in these regions should seek shelter until further notice.” Known as “El Mencho”, Oseguera Cervantes, aged 56, was the main leader of the CJNG, one of the most violent criminal organizations with the largest territorial presence in Mexico and which, at the beginning of last year, was designated by the US government as a terrorist organization. Organized crime groups responded violently to an operation in Jalisco to detain a priority security target Getty Images via BBC The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) placed “El Mencho” in 2020 as its top target on its well-known list of most wanted fugitives. Since then, he had offered US$15 million (around R$77.6 million) for information leading to his capture. And the current Donald Trump government included the CJNG on a list of terrorist organizations that it seeks to combat on the American continent. The designation changed the way U.S. agents structure their cases against cartels. Previously, they had to justify a threat to a US citizen; Now, any link with the group is already a reason for investigation. Rise as leader of the CJNG After the arrest and extradition to the USA of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in 2017, the main target of Mexico’s anti-drug forces was Oseguera Cervantes. Also called Nemesio Oseguera Ramos or Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, and with various nicknames such as “El Mencho” or “El Señor de los Gallos”, he was born in the region known as Tierra Caliente, in Michoacán, probably in Uruapan or Aguililla. In the 1980s, he migrated to the United States. In California, he was arrested several times for minor offenses, but in the early 1990s he began to get involved in selling drugs, which led to his deportation. Upon returning to Mexico, he joined the police of a municipality in Jalisco, but chose to become involved in the protection circle of drug trafficker Armando Valencia Cornelio, “El Maradona”, head of the Los Valencia cartel (or Cartel del Milenio). The group maintained an alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel, but split in 2010, after the death of one of its founders, Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel. Alongside his brother-in-law Abigael González Valencia, “El Cuini”, inherited part of its structure. From that moment on, the CJNG was born — and “El Mencho’s” criminal career accelerated. In the 1980s, Oseguera Cervantes was arrested in California SFPD via BBC The expansion of the CJNG In just a few years, the CJNG went from a local gang in the states of Jalisco and Colima to an organization with a presence in more than half of Mexican territory. Its main business focused on the illegal amphetamine market in the United States and Europe, but links were also detected between the group and the drug market in Asia. There are several reasons behind CJNG’s accelerated growth. One of them was the capture of many of the main leaders of rival cartels, which led to the fragmentation of some groups or the near extinction of others, such as Los Templarios, in the state of Michoacán. CJNG occupied the spaces left by its rivals in the market. Another reason was the recruitment of finance experts and chemists who develop new formulas to manufacture synthetic drugs. Cartel violence has also been a central factor. In the last decade, authorities identified “El Mencho” as a highly dangerous character with great firepower. Some experts claim that Oseguera Cervantes grew precisely by “crushing” his rival groups. The interests of the CJNG and its leader were not limited to drug trafficking. He took advantage of the economic growth in the livestock, agriculture and construction sectors in Jalisco to create businesses in these areas and use them as avenues for laundering money from drug trafficking. The CJNG was also notable for its corrupt power over local and customs authorities. This facilitated the entry of precursors or starting substances for the manufacture of synthetic drugs through the ports of Manzanillo, in Colima, and Lázaro Cárdenas, in Michoacán, both on the west coast of Mexico. Another source of income was extortion from small and medium-sized businesses in western Mexico. However, since 2022 rumors have been circulating about his health. On at least two occasions, his death was reported, something authorities were unable to confirm. Experts point out that, probably, “El Mencho” was no longer directly in charge of CJNG operations. One of his sons, Rubén Oseguera González — considered second in the group’s hierarchy — was extradited in 2020 from Mexico to the USA, in an action considered one of the hardest blows against the organization so far. His wife, Rosalinda González Valencia, was also arrested in 2021 and convicted two years later on organized crime-related charges. She left prison at the end of last February, after obtaining early release.

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