A United States government poster on El Mencho from 2024. Photo / US Department of State via The Washington Post
The killing of Mexico’s most powerful drug kingpin represents a major show of force by the country’s military.
Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as ‘El Mencho’, was the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
His death at the hands of security forces today comes as President Donald Trump continues to pressure the United States’ southern neighbour to do more to fight its drug-trafficking organisations.
Oseguera, one of the most wanted fugitives in Mexico, was a founder of the New Generation cartel, which has grown to become one of the country’s most powerful and violent organisations, trafficking large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine into the US.
A US defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the operation was carried out by the Mexican military but included participation from a joint US-Mexico task force that “regularly works” with the Mexican military through US Northern Command, which oversees US operations in both countries.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum congratulated the country’s security forces but urged residents to “remain informed and calm” in the aftermath of the operation.
The cartel leader’s killing immediately set off a wave of violence in areas controlled by the cartel, with reports of burning cars blocking roads.
In Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco and one of the host cities of the upcoming World Cup, businesses were shut down, sirens and helicopters could be heard in the city centre, and residents were warned to stay inside.
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro, in a statement on X, said federal forces had carried out an operation in Tapalpa, southwest of Guadalajara, and urged residents not to travel on roads because of clashes in the area.
In the coastal resort city of Puerto Vallarta, videos showed grey smoke billowing above beachfront hotels.
The US Embassy warned US citizens in Jalisco and Tamaulipas states, and parts of three other states, to shelter in place because of security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity.
Videos circulating on social media showed people running through the Guadalajara Airport and hiding behind ticket counters. But the airport said in a statement that flights and operations are continuing as normal and that the chaos seen in videos was related to paranoia among passengers.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, in a post on X, described Oseguera as “one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins” and said his killing was a “great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world”.
Mexican security officials planned the operation to detain Oseguera, and members of the military came under attack as they carried out the operation, according to a statement from the Defence Ministry.
Security forces returned fire, killing four members of the cartel and seriously wounding three others who later died. One of them was Oseguera.
Two other members of the cartel were detained, and weapons and armoured vehicles were seized, including rocket launchers with the capacity to attack aircraft and destroy armoured vehicles.
The US helped provide information to support the operation, according to the statement.
The joint unit that participated, known as Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, was established last month with headquarters at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson.
It integrates intelligence personnel and law enforcement representatives with the military.
The Trump Administration has designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel a terrorist organisation, and the US offered a reward of up to US$15 million ($25m) for information leading to Oseguera’s capture.
Oseguera, a former police officer, helped transform the cartel into one of the most powerful organisations in the country.
He is believed to have ordered the assassinations of several Mexican politicians.
His leadership helped expand the cartel’s global reach to allow it to sell drugs on every continent but Antarctica.
The cartel’s wealth allowed him to buy political influence, amass a cache of weapons and build an army of more than 7000 people, according to a US federal law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has surpassed the Sinaloa Cartel to become the most powerful group in Mexico, in part due to serious leadership losses in the rival organisation once led by the kingpin known as ‘El Chapo’. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has, through violence, managed to take over important drug routes in the US.
The killing of Oseguera will not destroy the cartel - the group’s hierarchy will allow it to carry on, the federal law enforcement official said.
“It certainly is going to have some immediate impact on the supply chain in the US because he was such a powerful figure in the international drug trade,” the law enforcement official said.
“It’s going to at least temporarily cripple some of their abilities. How temporary is that going to be? Nobody knows.”
Over more than a decade, El Mencho evaded repeated attempts by Mexican security forces to capture him.
Security forces struggled to track him down in the remote, rugged terrain where he often hid, protected by a huge security detail.
During one attempt in Guadalajara, in August 2012, cartel members formed barricades with burning vehicles to impede police from capturing him, according to InSight Crime.
In 2015, another operation resulted in cartel gunmen shooting down a Mexican military helicopter, killing three soldiers.
About five years ago, security forces had identified a location where they believed they could capture Oseguera, according to a former US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive case. But the cartel leader was nowhere to be seen; authorities suspected that information about his capture was leaked.
“It’s not easy,” the official said. “The fact that the Mexicans were able do it, with US intelligence support, shows why the US doesn’t need boots on the ground in the country.”
The Trump Administration in recent months has threatened strikes on Mexico and has weighed other uses of military force against its cartels.
Sheinbaum has said she opposes any unilateral US military action in her country, and, instead, her Government has sought to show its own results in taking a more aggressive approach against drug trafficking groups.
In January, Mexico transferred 37 accused criminal operatives to the US, one in a series of handovers to US authorities amid the escalating pressure from Trump.
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