“El Mencho” killed in Jalisco, Mexico
Mexico City, Feb 22 (EFE).-
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias ‘El Mencho’, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and one of the most-wanted drug lords by the United States, was killed on Sunday as a part of an operation by federal forces, Mexican government sources confirmed to EFE.
The operation took place in Tapalpa, a municipality located 130 kilometers (about 80 miles) south of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco. Armed confrontations occurred in the region, and a massive security deployment is still in place.
Authorities have not yet confirmed whether more people were detained or killed.
Oseguera Cervantes, 56, was one of the most wanted criminals by Mexican and US authorities, which had offered a 15 million dollar reward for information leading to his capture.
The US accused him of leading a “reign of terror” in Mexico and of destroying “countless innocent lives” through fentanyl trafficking. Washington had included the CJNG on its list of terrorist organizations in 2025.
Under “El Mencho’s” leadership, the CJNG consolidated itself as one of the country’s most powerful and violent criminal organizations.
Following Sunday’s operation, several road blockades and the burning of vehicles and businesses were reported in Jalisco and other states across the country.
Media and social networks circulated images of burning vehicles and columns of smoke in Jalisco, Michoacán, Colima, Nayarit (west), Aguascalientes (central), and Tamaulipas (north), as well as burned businesses in Guanajuato (central). EFE
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