Panic gripped airports and streets across Jalisco state, Mexico, on Monday as widespread violence erupted following the death of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Reports indicate significant disruption to travel and daily life as security forces responded to clashes with cartel members.
Mexican authorities confirmed on Sunday the death of Oseguera Cervantes in a military operation in western Mexico. The operation, which included intelligence information from the United States, resulted in the deaths of six other individuals and the arrest of several more, according to officials. Three members of the Mexican military were also wounded during the operation. The violence continued Monday, with reports of burned vehicles blocking roads near Tapalpa, Jalisco, according to the Associated Press.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” had risen to become one of Mexico’s most powerful drug traffickers, rivaling figures like Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, according to Mike Vigil, a former Chief of International Operations for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The CJNG, under his leadership, had become notorious for its aggressive tactics, including attacks on Mexican officials and the use of explosives and drones, according to CBC News.
The U.S. State Department had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Oseguera Cervantes’s arrest, citing his alleged role in trafficking large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States. He had previously lived illegally in California in the 1980s and 1990s, being deported back to Mexico on multiple occasions after arrests on drug charges, CBS News reported.
According to Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla, authorities were led to Oseguera Cervantes’s hideout by surveillance of one of his romantic partners. Special forces found him “hidden in the undergrowth” in his home state of Jalisco, initiating a series of shootouts before he and two bodyguards were taken into custody and subsequently died en route to Mexico City.
The operation and subsequent violence resulted in more than 70 fatalities, including security forces, suspected cartel members, and civilians, according to the Associated Press. The scale of the violence underscores the power and reach of the CJNG, which operates in at least 28 of Mexico’s 32 states, according to Insight Crime.
The killing of El Mencho is likely to send “psychological shockwaves” through Mexico’s drug cartels, according to a former high-place U.S. Official who spoke to CBC News. However, the long-term impact on the CJNG and the broader landscape of drug trafficking in Mexico remains to be seen.
As of Tuesday, February 24, Mexican authorities have not released a detailed plan for addressing the potential power vacuum left by Oseguera Cervantes’s death, nor have they commented on the possibility of retaliatory violence from the CJNG.
