Who Was Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera? Mexico’s Most Powerful Drug Kingpin Killed in Military Operation

Mexico’s armed forces have killed Nemesio “El Mencho: Oseguera, whom authorities had identified as the nation’s most powerful drug lord, marking what officials call a major intensification of the crackdown on organised crime. A senior government source confirmed on Sunday that he died during a military-led operation as the Mexican government ramps up pressure on local cartels after U.S. intervention threats.

Oseguera, once a police officer, headed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, considered Mexico’s dominant organisation and described by officials as one of the primary traffickers of cocaine into the United States. 

Who Was El Mencho?

 An ex-police officer, Oseguera was the shadowy leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an outfit that took its moniker from the western state of the same name that is home to Mexico’s second city, Guadalajara.

The military operation against Oseguera follows a pressure campaign from the Trump administration on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government to ramp up its crackdown on drug trafficking, including U.S. threats to intervene directly in Mexico.

“The operation for his arrest was led by the Defense Ministry, and he ended up being killed,” said one of the sources.

Over a relatively short period of time, the CJNG morphed into a continents-spanning criminal enterprise rivaling former allies in the Sinaloa Cartel, the gang of captured kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, now in a U.S. prison.

Violent Clashes Erupt After El Mencho’s Death

The news of Oseguera’s death followed a federal security operation in the city of Tapalpa in Jalisco, according to a social media post by governor Pablo Lemus Navarro, who urged residents to stay home until the situation was brought under control.

“We remain in Code Red. We reiterate the recommendation to avoid leaving your homes. The clashes are occurring in several federal entities,” he added in a subsequent post.

Videos on social media showed cars ablaze, sending dark smoke into the sky, on roads in Jalisco. Mexican media outlets reported burning vehicles and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states across the country, particularly in the north and northwest.

Alfredo Ramirez Bedolla, the governor of the state of Michoacan, wrote on X that he had received reports of state highways being blocked as a result of the operation in Jalisco.

(Inputs from Reuters)