Mexico’s most wanted drug lord, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” has been killed during a major security operation in the western state of Jalisco, officials have confirmed. Cervantes was the leader of the violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The 59-year-old was seriously injured in a confrontation with Mexican security forces in the town of Tapalpa. He later died while being airlifted to Mexico City for medical attention.
El Mencho’s death has ignited widespread unrest across multiple Mexican states, as cartel members retaliate with violence. In Jalisco alone, several vehicles were set ablaze amid the chaos.
Several countries, including the US and Canada have issued advisories for their citizens to remain cautious amid massive unrest.
Who was El Mencho?
El Mencho, alias Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, was a Mexican drug lord and one of the most notorious organised‑crime figures of the 21st century. He was the founder and long‑time leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a powerful criminal organisation based in western Mexico that became one of the country’s dominant drug trafficking groups.
Born in 1966 in a poor village in Michoacan, Mexico, El Mencho emigrated to the United States in the 1980s, where he became involved in heroin trafficking and served time in a US prison before being deported back to Mexico. After a stint as a local police officer, he entered organised crime, eventually rising through the Milenio Cartel and later establishing the CJNG. Under his leadership, the cartel expanded rapidly, trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin into the US, and became infamous for extreme violence against rivals and Mexican security forces.
El Mencho was indicted multiple times in the United States for drug trafficking and conspiracy and was wanted on numerous charges including narcotics distribution and illegal firearms possession. At the peak of the manhunt, the US government offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest, making him one of the most wanted men in the world.
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