MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican military killed the chief of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” on Sunday, decapitating what had turn out to be Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel and thrusting swaths of the nation into chaos.
The drug lord was the Mexican authorities’s greatest prize but to point out the Trump administration in its efforts to crack down on the cartels, and his demise was met with a forceful response from the cartel, recognized by its Spanish initials CJNG.
Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads at greater than 250 factors in 20 Mexican states, authorities mentioned, and left smoke billowing into the air. Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, was became a ghost city Sunday evening as civilians hunkered down. School was canceled Monday in a number of states. Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at the very least 14 lifeless, together with seven National Guard troops.
Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to seize him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, a few two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died whereas being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department mentioned in a press release. The state is the bottom of the cartel recognized for trafficking big portions of fentanyl and different medicine to the United States.
Cartel a serious fentanyl trafficker
During the operation, troops got here underneath 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 receiving medical therapy.
A Jalisco state official who requested anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to talk publicly mentioned a member of the National Guard died in Tapalpa in the course of the operation, six different National 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. Details weren’t instantly accessible.
A person rides a motorbike subsequent to a comfort retailer that was set on fireplace, in San Francisco del Ricon, Guanajuato state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the demise of the chief of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, referred to as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Alfredo Valadez)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned through X that the U.S. authorities supplied intelligence assist for the operation. “‘El Mencho’ was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,” she wrote. She counseled Mexico’s navy for its work.
“Ever since President (Claudia) Sheinbaum has been in power, the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” mentioned David Mora, analyst for International Crisis Group in Mexico. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it, we don’t need 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. Videos circulating on social media confirmed smoke billowing over the vacationer metropolis of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco, and folks sprinting by means of the airport of the state’s capital in panic.
Air Canada introduced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta “due to an ongoing security situation” and suggested clients to not go to their airport. A variety of Mexican and worldwide airways additionally canceled flights.
A police officer stands guard by a charred automobile after it was set on fireplace, on a street in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the demise of the chief of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, referred to as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
In Guadalajara, burning automobiles blocked roads and companies shuttered simply months earlier than Mexico’s second-largest metropolis is scheduled to host matches during this summer’s soccer World Cup.
The U.S. State Department warned U.S. residents in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon states to stay in secure locations because of the 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 informed residents to remain at dwelling, suspended public transportation and mentioned that the state was “living through critical hours.”
US had supplied as much as $15 million for his seize
The U.S. State Department had supplied a reward of as much as $15 million for info resulting in the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is among the strongest and quickest rising legal organizations in Mexico and started working round 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a international terrorist group.
Sheinbaum has criticized the “kingpin” technique of earlier administrations that took out cartel leaders solely to set off explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained in style in Mexico, safety is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took workplace a yr in the past, she has been underneath large stress to point out outcomes towards drug trafficking.
On Sunday, Sheinbaum applauded Mexican safety forces and referred to as for calm in a publish on X.
Known as an aggressive cartel
The Jalisco cartel has been probably the most aggressive cartels in its assaults on the navy — together with on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination try with grenades and high-powered rifles within the coronary heart of Mexico City towards the then head of the capital’s police power and now federal safety secretary.
The DEA considers the cartel to be as highly effective because the Sinaloa cartel, certainly one of Mexico’s most notorious legal teams, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states. It is among the essential suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, just like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the manufacturing of fentanyl and methamphetamines. Sinaloa, nevertheless, 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 Court 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 demise, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel round 2007.
Initially, they labored for the Sinaloa Cartel, however finally cut up and for years the 2 cartels have battled for territory throughout Mexico.
Indicted a number of occasions within the United States
Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted a number of occasions within the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
The most up-to-date superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, costs Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of managed substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the aim of unlawful importation into the United States and use of firearms throughout and in reference to drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes can also be charged underneath the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for steering a seamless legal enterprise.
Last yr, individuals looking for missing relatives founds piles of footwear and different clothes, in addition to bone fragments at what authorities later mentioned was a Jalisco cartel recruitment and training site.
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Associated Press writers María Verza and Megan Janetsky contributed to this report.
