Mexico kills top drug cartel leader ‘El Mencho’

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Mexican authorities have killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, striking the country’s biggest blow against organised crime in a decade as the US piles pressure on Mexico to act against narco bosses.

Nemesio Oseguera, known as El Mencho, died on Sunday in an operation by intelligence and security agencies in Tapalpa, Jalisco state, Mexico’s defence ministry said.

Oseguera, 59, turned the CJNG into one of Mexico’s two most powerful crime groups, alongside the Sinaloa Cartel, expanding its reach across most of the country and taking a lead role in trafficking drugs, including fentanyl, to the US.  

The cartel unleashed a wave of violent roadblocks, car burnings and attacks on businesses across Jalisco state following news of Oseguera’s death.

Video published by local media showed fires at a Costco store in Puerto Vallarta, a resort town on Jalisco’s coast. Air Canada and United Airlines temporarily suspended flights to the city.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum called for calm on Sunday, saying there was “total co-ordination between the governments of all states” and that the “majority of the national territory” was unaffected by the violence.

Oseguera’s demise comes amid intense pressure from US President Donald Trump for Mexico to crack down on cartel leaders. Trump has used the countries’ crucial trade links as leverage and even floated possible US intervention on Mexican soil.

Sheinbaum has dramatically increased operations against the cartels, ending the so-called “hugs not bullets” policy adopted by her predecessor, which experts blame for allowing the expansion of crime groups.

“This is one of the biggest achievements in the government’s fight against organised crime in the last 20 years,” said Armando Vargas, leader of the security programme at think-tank Mexico Evalua.

“The timing is strategic, sending a powerful message to the US about the government’s commitment to weakening organised crime,” he added, ahead of a review of the USMCA trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada.

Mexico’s defense ministry said Sunday’s operation was part of “bilateral co-ordination and co-operation with the United States” and “also received supplementary information from US authorities”.

The ministry said Oseguera had died from wounds sustained “during air transport to Mexico City”. Six other CJNG members were killed, they added, while weapons including rocket launchers capable of downing aircraft were seized.

The US embassy issued a “shelter in place” alert for its citizens in Jalisco, and several other parts of Mexico, after reports of violence in the western state.

Mexican security experts compared the current unrest to violence that followed the 2024 capture of Sinaloa cartel boss Ismael “el Mayo” Zambada, which later evolved into an ongoing all-out turf war in Sinaloa state between factions of the group.

Oseguera was a top target of the US Drugs Enforcement Administration, which offered $15mn for his capture. His death is the most important act against a cartel leader since the arrest of Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán in 2014, analysts said.

The CJNG also plays a major role in fuel theft, arms trafficking and extortion.

Whether the violence in Jalisco expands will depend on “what kind of succession lines are in place and how much they’re honoured or disregarded,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, director of Brookings’ initiative on non-state armed actors.

“We could see violence really spreading across Mexico, and potentially even beyond,” she added.

“Or if it’s pretty quickly announced who is the new leader and everyone kisses the ring, then the extent of the violence and the impact on the criminal landscape can be more limited.”

Christopher Landau, the US deputy secretary of state, described Oseguera’s death as a “a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world”.

“The good guys are stronger than the bad guys,” he posted on X.