Cops and civilians stroll close to the burned wreckage of a automobile used as a barricade by members of organized crime, following a collection of detentions by federal forces, in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Feb. 22, 2026.
Michelle Freyria | Reuters
The Mexican military killed the chief of the Jalisco New Technology Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” on Sunday, decapitating what had turn into Mexico’s strongest drug cartel and thrusting swaths of the nation into chaos.
The seize was the Mexican authorities’s greatest prize but to indicate the Trump administration in its efforts to crack down on the cartels, and was met with a forceful response from the cartel, identified by its Spanish initials CJNG.
Automobiles burned out by cartel members blocked roads in almost a dozen Mexican states and left smoke billowing into the air. Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, was was a ghost city Sunday night time as civilians hunkered down. College was canceled on Monday in a number of states.
Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to seize him on Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, a few two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, and he died whereas being flown to Mexico Metropolis, the Protection Division mentioned in an announcement. The state is the bottom of the cartel identified for trafficking big portions of fentanyl and different medication to the USA.
Cartel a serious fentanyl trafficker
Through the operation, troops got here beneath fireplace and killed 4 individuals on the location. Three extra individuals, together with Oseguera Cervantes, have been wounded and later died, the assertion mentioned. Two others have been arrested, and armored automobiles, rocket launchers, and different arms have been seized. Three members of the armed forces have been wounded and are receiving medical therapy.
A Jalisco state official who requested anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly mentioned {that a} member of the Nationwide Guard died in Tapalpa throughout the operation, six different Nationwide Guard members died in Zapopan beside Guadalajara, a jail guard was killed at a lockup in Puerto Vallarta when prisoners rioted, and an agent from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s workplace was killed in Guadalajara. Particulars weren’t instantly out there.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico mentioned on X that the operation was carried out by Mexican particular forces “inside the framework of bilateral cooperation, with U.S. authorities offering complementary intelligence.”
“Ever since President (Claudia) Sheinbaum has been in energy, the military has been far more confrontational, combative towards felony teams in Mexico,” mentioned David Mora, analyst for Worldwide Disaster Group in Mexico. “That is signaling to the U.S. that if we maintain cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it, we do not want U.S. troops on Mexican soil.”
Roadblocks and burning automobiles
The killing of the drug lord set off a number of hours of roadblocks with burning automobiles, ways generally utilized by the cartels to dam navy operations. Movies circulating on social media confirmed smoke billowing over the vacationer metropolis of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco, and folks sprinting via the airport of the state’s capital in panic.
Air Canada introduced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta “as a consequence of an ongoing safety state of affairs” and suggested clients to not go to their airport.
In Guadalajara, the state capital, burning automobiles blocked roads. Mexico’s second-largest metropolis is scheduled to host matches throughout this summer time’s soccer World Cup.
The U.S. State Division warned U.S. residents in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon states to stay in secure locations because of the ongoing safety operations. Canada’s embassy in Mexico warned its residents in Puerto Vallarta to shelter in place and customarily to maintain a low profile in Jalisco.
Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus instructed residents to remain at residence and suspended public transportation.
U.S. had supplied as much as $15 million for his seize
The U.S. State Division had supplied a reward of as much as $15 million for data resulting in the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Technology Cartel, often known as CJNG, is likely one of the strongest and fastest-growing felony organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.
In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a international terrorist group.
Sheinbaum, like her predecessor, has criticized the “kingpin” technique of earlier administrations that took out cartel leaders solely to set off explosions of violence as cartels fractured. Whereas she has remained standard in Mexico, safety is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took workplace a 12 months in the past, she has been beneath large strain to indicate outcomes towards drug trafficking.
On Sunday, Sheinbaum applauded Mexican safety forces and known as for calm in a put up on X.
Referred to as an aggressive cartel
The Jalisco cartel has been one of the crucial aggressive cartels in its assaults on the navy — together with on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and putting in mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination try with grenades and high-powered rifles within the coronary heart of Mexico Metropolis towards the then head of the capital’s police pressure and now federal safety secretary.
The DEA considers the cartel to be as highly effective because the Sinaloa cartel, one in every of Mexico’s most notorious felony teams, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states. It is likely one of the foremost suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, just like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the manufacturing of fentanyl and methamphetamines. Sinaloa, nonetheless, has been weakened by infighting after the lack of its leaders, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, each in U.S. custody.
Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was initially from Aguililla within the neighboring state of Michoacan. He had been considerably concerned in drug trafficking actions for the reason that Nineties. When he was youthful, he migrated to the U.S., the place he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Northern District of California in 1994 and served almost three years in jail.
Following his launch from custody, Oseguera Cervantes returned to Mexico and reengaged in drug trafficking exercise with drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel.” After Villarreal’s loss of life, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” created the Jalisco New Technology Cartel round 2007.
Initially, they labored for the Sinaloa Cartel, however ultimately cut up and for years the 2 cartels have battled for territory throughout Mexico.
Indicted a number of instances within the U.S.
Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted a number of instances in the USA District Courtroom for the District of Columbia.
The latest superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, fees Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of managed substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the aim of unlawful importation into the USA and use of firearms throughout and in reference to drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes can be charged beneath the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for steering a unbroken felony enterprise.
Final 12 months, individuals trying to find lacking kinfolk discovered piles of footwear and different clothes, in addition to bone fragments at what authorities later mentioned was a Jalisco cartel recruitment and coaching web site.
