Violence erupts in Mexico after security forces kiII world’s most wanted drug dealer ‘El Mencho’
Mexican authorities have killed Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), sparking widespread violence across several states, including Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan, Nayarit, Guanajuato, and Tamaulipas.
The Mexican Secretariat of National Defence said Oseguera was wounded during a clash with soldiers in Tapalpa, Jalisco, on Sunday and later died while being flown to Mexico City. He had a $15 million bounty on his head from the United States.
The operation triggered a wave of unrest, with gunmen torching vehicles and blocking highways. Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, which will host matches in the upcoming FIFA World Cup, was largely deserted as civilians stayed indoors. Videos circulating online showed people fleeing through the Guadalajara airport and smoke rising over Puerto Vallarta.
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus instructed residents to remain at home and suspended public transport. Schools were closed in several affected states.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praised the security forces and urged calm, writing on X: “There is absolute coordination with the governments of all states. In the vast majority of the national territory, activities are proceeding with complete normality.”
Oseguera, 59, is one of the highest-profile Mexican drug lords taken down since the capture of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael Zambada of the Sinaloa cartel. The Defence Secretariat reported that four CJNG members were killed during the raid and two others died en route to Mexico City. Two more suspects were arrested, and weapons, armored vehicles, and rocket launchers were seized. Three military personnel were wounded and are receiving treatment.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called the operation a “great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world” and described Oseguera as “one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins.”
Security warnings were issued by the US and Canada. The US advised Americans in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero, and Nuevo Leon to remain in safe locations, while Canada warned travelers in Jalisco, Guerrero, and Michoacan to take precautions. Airlines, including Air Canada, United, and American Airlines, suspended flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara.
Oseguera, a former police officer and avocado farmer, co-founded the CJNG around 2007. The FBI considers CJNG Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking organisation, responsible for most cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl entering the US.
Al Jazeera correspondent John Hollman described Oseguera as “the undisputed head” of CJNG and “the most powerful Mexican drug trafficking figure that was free in the country,” but warned that his death could spark a violent power struggle among regional cartel bosses.
Analysts emphasized that removing Oseguera alone would not end cartel operations. Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations at the US Drug Enforcement Administration, stated, “Killing or capturing the head of the cartel is not really going to have a major impact. They have to go after the infrastructure, their logistics, the money laundering, their armed wings… They have to do it quick and efficiently, or there is going to be hell to pay in terms of violence.”
The raid followed pressure from the US administration under Donald Trump to intensify Mexico’s anti-drug trafficking efforts, including threats of direct intervention.
Oseguera’s low public profile had made him elusive for years, with all known photographs of him decades old, further contributing to the shock and disruption following his death.