MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities have killed one of many world’s most wished drug traffickers, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, often known as “El Mencho,” founder and chief of the infamous Jalisco New Technology cartel, which controls drug smuggling, extortion, gas theft and different rackets all through Mexico.
Oseguera, believed to be 59, suffered deadly wounds throughout a Sunday morning navy assault within the city of Tapalpa in Jalisco state, in accordance with the Mexican Protection Ministry. He died whereas being airlifted to Mexico Metropolis for medical remedy alongside with different cartel associates injured within the raid, the navy mentioned.
Six different cartel operatives have been additionally killed within the operation, the navy mentioned, and three troopers have been injured.
The drug kingpin’s killing additionally triggered violence. Because the information unfold, obvious supporters of the late cartel boss set fires to autos and blocked roads throughout western Mexico, prompting fears of escalating chaos in coming days and weeks.
Oseguera’s demise is probably the most important takedown of a Mexican capo for the reason that 2016 seize of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, former head of the Sinaloa cartel. El Chapo was extradited to the US and is serving a life sentence in a U.S. jail.
The operation comes as the federal government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been underneath intense strain from the Trump administration to crack down on U.S.-bound drug trafficking.
In a quick response, Sheinbaum applauded the navy and safety companies and urged individuals to stay calm amid TV and social media pictures of blockades, towers of smoke and torched autos.
An alleged photograph of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, often known as El Mencho, launched by U.S. prosecutors.
(U.S. District Court docket)
“We should stay knowledgeable and calm,” she posted on X. “Within the overwhelming majority of the nationwide territory, actions are continuing with full normality.”
Beneath Oseguera’s management, the Jalisco cartel has been on a relentless effort to increase its tentacles all through Mexico, particularly after the downfall of El Chapo, which weakened the once-dominant Sinaloa cartel.
Jalisco operatives have aggressively invaded the turf of different gangs, included smaller felony bands into its ranks and put legions of law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors and politicians on its huge payroll.
A burned automotive close to Guadalajara after the killing of drug lord Oseguera.
(Alejandra Leyva / Related Press)
Although rumors circulated on social media that the American navy was instantly concerned, U.S. authorities denied any such function. Sheinbaum has pledged “cooperation and coordination” with U.S. officers in anti-cartel actions, however has rejected any direct U.S. function on the bottom in Mexico.
The takedown of Oseguera, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico Metropolis mentioned, “was deliberate and executed by Mexican Particular Forces” and “was carried out inside the framework of bilateral cooperation.” U.S. authorities, the embassy mentioned, supplied “complementary intelligence.”
U.S. officers have been fast to applaud Mexican authorities.
“It is a nice growth for Mexico, the US, Latin America and the world,” Christopher Landau, deputy secretary of State, mentioned on X. “The nice guys are stronger than the unhealthy guys.”
Derek Maltz, the retired former performing administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration underneath President Trump, described Oseguera as “one of the crucial harmful narco terrorists on the earth who’s answerable for killing historic quantities of Individuals” — the latter a reference to U.S. residents who’ve died of overdoses of smuggled medication, notably fentanyl, the artificial opioid.
Like different present and former U.S. legislation enforcement officers, Maltz praised Mexico’s current marketing campaign to ratchet up strain towards felony teams. Within the final 12 months, Mexico has dispatched scores of suspected cartel operatives to the US, the place many face felony costs.
“I applaud the efforts of the Mexican authorities and the courageous warriors on the entrance line which have been going after [Oseguera] for a few years,” Maltz informed The Occasions. “He’s not in a position to destroy communities and households round America or terrorize the residents of Mexico.”
The Jalisco cartel is among the many Mexico-based mobs that the Trump administration has formally designated as international terrorist organizations.
However the designation has been seen warily in Mexico: Many fear that the transfer is also used to justify direct U.S. navy motion in Mexico — a step that Sheinbaum’s authorities has strenuously sought to keep away from.
The demise of Oseguera, just like the earlier takedowns of El Chapo and different cartel leaders, is unlikely to scale back the amount of drug-smuggling to the US, specialists mentioned. The exit of kingpins prior to now has by no means offset the lure of giant income tied to the voracious urge for food for illicit substances north of the border.
However many in Mexico and elsewhere feared the capo’s demise may spark a lethal spherical of violence within the nation, as lower-level cartel operatives struggle for supremacy amid a management void. Lethal intra-cartel battles have beforehand adopted the killings or arrests of different crime bosses in Mexico.
“Hopefully, this won’t spiral uncontrolled and generate an epidemic of violence nationwide,” Eduardo Guerrero, a safety analyst, informed Mexico’s Milenio information outlet. “I hope [the government] has thought of a plan to manage this violence that would surge in varied locations.”
However there have been already indications of a violent response, particularly in western Jalisco, the capital of which is Guadalajara, Mexico’s second metropolis.
A household sheltering in place within the state of Jalisco — whose members requested to not be recognized due to security considerations — mentioned cartel members have been pulling individuals out of autos on the street and setting the autos on fireplace. Vehicles, vans and buses going up in flames have been seen on roads in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, in accordance with video circulating on social media, in addition to within the states of Nayarit and Michoacán.
A bunch of Jalisco New Technology Cartel fighters within the Mexican state of Michoacan.
(Juan Jose Estrada Serafin / Fo)
The governor of Jalisco reported roadblocks and different disturbances all through the state and suggested individuals to remain residence.
There have been additionally experiences of roadblocks and shootouts in additional than a dozen different states in Mexico the place the cartel held sway.
U.S. authorities had provided a $15-million reward for data resulting in the arrest or conviction of Oseguera. He was underneath indictment for drug trafficking and different crimes in U.S. federal court docket.
Oseguera oversaw a military-like buildup of his cartel, which pioneered using armored autos, land mines, drones and different navy {hardware}. Amongst different assaults, the Jalisco gang was blamed for the 2015 downing of a Mexican navy helicopter, which resulted within the deaths of 9 Mexican legislation enforcement officers. The helicopter — reportedly hit with U.S.-made .50-caliber machine-gun rounds — was on a mission to seize the elusive cartel boss.
Oseguera was born in 1966 in Naranjo de Chila, a sun-bleached city with fewer than 500 residents in a area of Michoacán state often known as the Tierra Caliente, or Scorching Land. He dropped out of major college to assist his household domesticate avocados earlier than migrating to the US.
Oseguera is claimed to have begun his storied profession in humble vogue, as a small-time drug vendor in California. A 1992 arrest for promoting heroin to an undercover officer in a bar in San Francisco led to a U.S. jail time period. He was deported to Mexico, grew to become a police officer, and ultimately constructed his personal crime community, one recognized for its brutality.
Rumors about El Mencho’s demise and seize have circulated prior to now and turned out to be false. However lately, authorities seemed to be closing in, capturing a number of high-ranking associates and shut relations.
His son, Rubén Oseguera González, often known as “El Menchito,” was captured and extradited from Mexico in February 2020. He was convicted in 2024 on an array of drug and weapons costs associated to his management function within the cartel and is serving a life sentence.
U.S. Bureau of Prisons information present he’s housed at a maximum-security federal jail in Florence, Colo., often known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” that additionally homes “El Chapo” and different high-profile criminals.
His daughter, Jessica Johanna Oseguera González, was arrested whereas visiting certainly one of her brother’s court docket proceedings and ultimately pleaded responsible to violations of the so-called Kingpin Act associated to cash laundering. She reportedly spent simply over two years in jail earlier than her launch in 2022.
Occasions workers writers McDonnell, Linthicum and Hamilton reported from Mexico Metropolis, New York and San Francisco, respectively. Particular correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico Metropolis contributed to this report.
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