The leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, was killed on Sunday following an operation led by Mexico’s military, the government announced.
Who was El Mencho?
El Mencho was a former police officer who led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, as it became one of the “most powerful and ruthless criminal organisations” inside Mexico, according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, CNN reported.
Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was originally from Aguililla in the neighboring state of Michoacan, the Associated Press reported.
He had been significantly involved in drug trafficking activities since the 1990s.
Oseguera was wanted by US authorities, who offered a bounty of up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest, CNN reported.
When he was younger, he reportedly migrated to the US where he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin in the US District Court for the Northern District of California in 1994 and served nearly three years in prison.
Following his release from custody, Oseguera Cervantes returned to Mexico and reengaged in drug trafficking activity with drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel.”
After Villarreal’s death, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel around 2007.
Initially, they worked for the Sinaloa Cartel, but eventually split and for years the two cartels have battled for territory across Mexico.
Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, AP reported.
The US Justice Department charged El Mencho in 2022 with leading the effort to manufacture and distribute controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for importation into the US.
The Jalisco New G