In a major blow to organized crime in Mexico, the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (known as "El Mencho"), was killed during a military raid on Sunday. The operation, carried out by Mexican special forces, was aided by a new U.S. military-led task force that has been mapping out cartel networks on both sides of the border.
What this really means is that the Mexican government, under mounting pressure from the U.S. to crack down on drug trafficking, has scored a significant victory against one of the country's most notorious and dangerous criminal organizations. Reuters reports that the U.S. task force provided intelligence support, including a detailed "target package" on El Mencho, to aid the Mexican operation.
Powerful and Elusive Cartel Leader
Oseguera, a former police officer, founded and oversaw the rapid rise of the CJNG, which is considered one of Mexico's most powerful and dangerous cartels. The 60-year-old had managed to evade arrest for years despite a $15 million bounty from the U.S. for information leading to his capture. NBC News notes that his son, Rubén Oseguera-González (known as "El Menchito"), was extradited to the U.S. in 2020 to face trafficking and weapons charges.
The bigger picture here is that this operation represents a significant blow to the CJNG and could disrupt the cartel's international drug trafficking operations. However, as The Star reports, the death of El Mencho sparked widespread retaliatory violence, with cartel henchmen blockading highways and torching businesses in multiple Mexican states. This underscores the resilience and ruthlessness of these criminal organizations, which are unlikely to be easily dismantled.