Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes (born Rubén Oseguera Cervantes; 17 July 1966 – 22 February 2026), commonly referred to by his alias "El Mencho", was a Mexican drug lord and head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an organized crime group based in Jalisco. He was the most wanted person in Mexico and one of the most wanted in the United States at the time of his death. The U.S. government and the Mexican government were offering rewards of up to US$15 million and MXN$300 million, respectively, for information leading to his arrest.

Oseguera Cervantes was wanted for drug trafficking, organized crime involvement, and illegal possession of firearms. El Mencho was allegedly responsible for coordinating global drug trafficking operations.

Born into poverty in the state of Michoacán, El Mencho grew avocados and dropped out of primary school before immigrating illegally to the U.S. in the 1980s. After being arrested several times, he was deported to Mexico in the early 1990s and worked for the Milenio Cartel. He eventually climbed to the top of the criminal organization and founded the CJNG after several of his bosses were arrested or killed. Under his command, the CJNG became one of Mexico's leading criminal organizations.

His notoriety was also a result of his aggressive leadership and sensationalist acts of violence against rival criminal groups and Mexican security forces alike. These attacks brought him increased government attention and an extensive manhunt. Security forces suspected he was hiding in a rural area of Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, or Colima, and that he was guarded by mercenaries with military training.

On 22 February 2026, Oseguera was seriously injured during a Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, and died en route to Mexico City from his gunshot wounds. The operation, aided by U.S. intelligence, triggered widespread retaliatory violence by the CJNG, including road blockades, vehicle fires, and clashes that killed at least 25 National Guard members.

El Mencho grew up in a poor family that cultivated avocados.

Manhunt On 25 August 2012, a unit of the Mexican Federal Police based in Tonaya, Jalisco, responded to an anonymous tip stating that there was an organized crime cell present in a rural community close by. When security forces got to the area, a shootout broke out between the two parties. Fragments of a wanted poster of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (alias "El Mencho"), offering US$10 million for information leading to his arrest. In a series of highly coordinated tactics to prevent El Mencho's arrest, the CJNG blocked several highways and roads across the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area by setting at least 37 vehicles on fire.

Kingpin Act designation On 8 April 2015, the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned El Mencho under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ("Kingpin Act") for his involvement in international drug-smuggling operations. The sanction was a joint investigation conducted by the Treasury and the DEA office in Los Angeles as part of a larger effort with their Mexican counterparts to sanction drug trafficking groups in Mexico. The sanction extended to the CJNG, his brother-in-law Abigael González Valencia, and Los Cuinis. As part of the sanction, all the U.S.-based assets and/or assets in control of U.S. individuals on behalf of El Mencho, González Valencia, the CJNG, and Los Cuinis, were frozen in the United States. In addition, the act prohibited U.S. citizens from engaging in business activities with them.

CJNG infighting and split In March 2017, El Mencho ordered the murder of El Cholo, a former CJNG member who betrayed the CJNG by co-founding the Nueva Plaza Cartel and conspiring against his former allies. El Cholo was marked for death by El Mencho after he murdered a CJNG financial operator nicknamed "El Colombiano", but the assassination attempt was a failure. El Cholo afterwards retaliated by co-founding a new cartel called the Nueva Plaza Cartel. They also have formed a rivalry with El Mencho and the CJNG as well. El Cholo was later murdered, with his body being discovered stabbed and wrapped in plastic on a park bench in downtown Tlaquepaque on 18 March 2021.

Family El Mencho had five brothers: Juan, Miguel, Antonio, Marín, and Abraham. In the 1990s, Abraham was given a 10-year prison sentence in California. In 2013, Mexican authorities accused him of murder in Michoacán. The charges were later dropped and the case was closed. and was later convicted by a Washington D.C.-based federal jury on various murder, drug trafficking and firearm charges in September 2024.

Mexican authorities suspected in 2016 that Omar Eleazar Oseguera Cervantes was part of the CJNG leadership structure. Though he has the same last names as El Mencho, he was listed as being his nephew and not as one of his brothers. He had served as the CJNG's lead financier.

In May 2018, El Mencho's wife Valencia was arrested on money laundering charges.

In April 2019, El Mencho's godson Adrián Alonso Guerrero Covarrubias was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and kidnapping. Guerrero served as El Mencho's regional head in the Ciénega and northern Los Altos regions in Jalisco, along with southeastern Guanajuato.

In February 2020, El Mencho's daughter Jessica Johanna, 33, known as "La Negra", was arrested in Washington D.C. when she went to see her brother Rubén, who had been extradited to the US for drug trafficking. She was charged with engaging in transactions or dealings in properties with businesses blacklisted by the Treasury Department and providing financial support to the CJNG. She pleaded guilty on 12 March 2021, and on 11 June was sentenced to 2½ years in prison. In April 2022, Jessica Johanna Oseguera González was released from prison.

In November 2021, Valencia, known as "La Jefa," was arrested in Zapopan, Jalisco. At the time of this arrest, El Mencho's wife was found to be the financial chief of the CJNG.

In December 2022, El Mencho's brother Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Tony Montana," was arrested during an army raid in Guadalajara. Authorities have stated that he was a logistics operator of the CJNG, supplying weapons, laundering money, and coordinating actions against other cartels. During his arrest, the army confiscated multiple weapons.

In November 2024, El Mencho's son-in-law Cristian Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa, a high-ranking CJNG leader who notably faked his death and took up residency in California under an assumed identity, was arrested in Riverside, California. Gutiérrez Ochoa was previously reported to be the romantic partner of El Mencho's daughter Laisha in April 2022. El Mencho assisted the scheme to fake Gutiérrez Ochoa's death by falsely telling associates that he killed his son-in-law for lying. The scheme to fake Gutiérrez's death occurred after he was charged with a 2021 kidnapping of two Mexican Navy members. In his guilty plea, El Gaucho admitted to being vital to CJNG's money laundering operation, especially from 2023 up to his arrest in 2024, using sophisticated methods involving real estate transactions, shell companies, and international money transfers.

On 28 February 2025, El Mencho's older brother Abraham, also known "Don Rodo", was recaptured by Mexican authorities. Regarded as a founder of CJNG, Don Rodo was vital to the cartel's money laundering and property purchasing operations, reportedly also working alongside CJNG notary public offices in Ciudad Guzmán and Autlán de Navarro to manage changes of ownership of the properties he purchased for El Mencho. In February 2026, it was reported that Abraham was still "in the hands of Mexican authorities" since his February 2025 arrest.

At the time of his death in February 2026, it was revealed that El Mencho's influence in the CJNG had initially come through his marriage to Valencia. At the same time, it was also revealed by Mexico City-based security consultant David Saucedo that El Mencho's son being jailed in the United States broke the line of succession, with his stepson Juan Carlos Valencia González (“El Pelon”) and only one of El Mencho's brothers being family members most likely to be candidates as his successor. Despite this claim, his brother Abraham was soon afterwards revealed to still be in custody. Despite this, "El Pelon," his stepson, was still considered to be El Mencho's "de facto second in command" by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence's (DNI) National CounterTerrorism Center. El Pelon was also later confirmed to have succeeded El Mencho as head of the CJNG. The lack of public sightings fueled speculation that El Mencho was seriously ill or dead. However, authorities stated that there was no reliable evidence confirming his death or any serious health condition.

Death

On 22 February 2026, Oseguera was captured by the Mexican Army during a security operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, and he later died from injuries sustained during the crossfire while being transported to Mexico City.

The operation sparked clashes in the area, resulting in multiple vehicles being set on fire throughout Jalisco. The police said shootouts and explosions were reported during the clashes. The number of casualties is currently unknown. Criminal groups blocked roads with burning vehicles in Jalisco and in the states of Guanajuato, Nayarit, Michoacán and Tamaulipas.

With his son Rubén Oseguera González ("El Menchito") being imprisoned in the United States, Oseguera had no clear successor, leaving the CJNG with a major power vacuum.

On March 18, 2026, the Wall Street Journal reported that Juan Carlos Valencia González, El Mencho's stepson through his marriage, was now the CJNG's new leader. On April 6, 2026, El Pais would also confirm Valencia Gonzalez becoming head of the CJNG, having successfully worked his way through the power vacuum created by El Mencho's death.