Mexican forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC), in a high-risk operation in the western state of Jalisco on Sunday.
Security forces tracked El Mencho, one of the United States’s most wanted fugitives, to a property in the mountain town of Tapalpa, central-western Mexico, after receiving intelligence linked to a close associate.
Recommended Stories list of 3 items
- list 1 of 3With ‘El Mencho’ killed, what’s next for Mexico and the Jalisco cartel?
- list 2 of 3Schools shut, troops on streets: Mexico on alert after ‘El Mencho’ killing
- list 3 of 3Residents raise alarm as violence-hit Guadalajara to host World Cup games
end of list
Troops launched a predawn raid on Sunday, triggering hours of gun battles and a wave of violence across several states.
The killing marks the most significant blow against organised crime since Mexican and US authorities recaptured Joaquin Guzman, known as “El Chapo”, nearly a decade ago.
Here is what we know about how the operation to capture El Mencho unfolded on Sunday.
Who was El Mencho?
El Mencho, 59, was believed to be a former police officer. He was from Michoacan, western Mexico, and built a vast criminal enterprise over more than 30 years.
US authorities convicted him of heroin trafficking in the mid-1990s, and he served a prison sentence in the US before returning to Mexico, where he rose rapidly within the drug underworld.
Around 2009, he founded the JNGC, which expanded rapidly to become one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent cartels.
The group trafficked cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl to the United States and smuggled migrants northwards.
It also earned notoriety for deploying military-style tactics, including armed drones and improvised explosive devices, and for launching direct assaults on security forces.
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, February 22, 2026, following the death of the leader of Nemesio Oseguera, known as ‘El Mencho’ [AP Photo/Armando Solis]How did the operation unfold?
On February 20, acting on new intelligence from an associate of one of El Mencho’s romantic partners, Mexican authorities began surrounding the site in Tapalpa where El Mencho was believed to be hiding.
Special forces, backed by the National Guard, military aircraft and helicopters, sealed off the area before dawn on February 22.
Cartel gunmen opened fire as soldiers advanced. Security forces returned fire, killing several suspected CJNG members. El Mencho and members of his inner circle fled to a nearby wooded cabin complex, where a second firefight erupted.
Soldiers eventually found a wounded El Mencho alongside two bodyguards. The authorities airlifted him to a medical facility, but he died during the flight.
A US defence official told Reuters that a US military-led intelligence task force focusing on drug cartels had supported the operation.