El Mencho Dead: US-Mexico Cooperation & the Future of Cartel Warfare
- Mexican security forces have killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), in a military operation Sunday, February 22,...
- While the Mexican government has long maintained it was unable to locate and arrest Oseguera Cervantes, experts suggest a confluence of factors led to Sunday’s outcome.
- Perhaps more crucially, the operation appears to have been conducted with unprecedented levels of collaboration with the United States.
Mexican security forces have killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), in a military operation . The operation, which took place in Tapalpa, Jalisco, has triggered a wave of violence across Mexico, with reports of vehicles set ablaze and roadblocks erected in at least 20 states. The death of El Mencho, long considered Mexico’s most powerful drug lord and a key target for U.S. Law enforcement, marks a significant, though potentially destabilizing, shift in the country’s ongoing struggle against organized crime.
While the Mexican government has long maintained it was unable to locate and arrest Oseguera Cervantes, experts suggest a confluence of factors led to Sunday’s outcome. According to Michael Chavarria, formerly the Drug Enforcement Administration’s senior leader in Guadalajara, the CJNG had become “public enemy number one” for President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, particularly after a 2020 assassination attempt against Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch. Garcia Harfuch, who survived the attack, became a vocal opponent of the cartel.
Perhaps more crucially, the operation appears to have been conducted with unprecedented levels of collaboration with the United States. The arrival of U.S. Navy SEAL Team 2 in Mexico around , ostensibly for a training exercise focused on intercepting fentanyl precursor chemicals, is seen as highly significant. U.S. Officials have confirmed that these SEALs trained Mexican navy special forces units that were previously involved in the capture of other notorious drug lords, including Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán in 2016 and Rafael Caro Quintero in 2022. The DEA has long maintained a network of informants within Mexico, providing intelligence that, until recently, often went unacted upon.
The shift in cooperation follows years of strained relations between the U.S. And Mexico on drug enforcement. Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador openly rejected U.S. Anti-drug strategies, advocating a policy of “hugs, not bullets.” However, under pressure from Washington, and particularly from President Donald Trump, Sheinbaum’s administration appears to have adopted a more collaborative approach. The compromise, as described by White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, involves Mexican forces taking the lead on the ground, while the U.S. Provides “intelligence support.”
The operation’s success raises questions about the extent of corruption within the Mexican government that previously shielded El Mencho. Chavarria noted that the CJNG had cultivated a “nation-wide network of corrupt alliances” at all levels of government, providing the cartel with a degree of protection. The DEA has long faced challenges in persuading Mexican authorities to act on intelligence regarding cartel members.
Despite the declared success, U.S. Security experts caution that the war on the cartels is far from over. Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Navy SEAL veteran, acknowledged the significance of El Mencho’s death but warned against complacency, stating that “more Menchos” will inevitably emerge. The DEA anticipates that Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez, 41, known as El R-3, will likely succeed his stepfather as the CJNG’s leader, inheriting a powerful criminal organization with deep roots and extensive international connections.
The CJNG, valued in the billions of dollars, has a presence in all 50 U.S. States and 40 countries, according to DEA intelligence. The cartel’s reach extends beyond drug trafficking, with officials seizing “various weapons and armored vehicles… including rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying armored vehicles” during the raid. The origin of these weapons remains a key question for investigators.
Carlos Olivo, a former DEA agent in charge in Guadalajara, emphasized that dismantling the cartel requires more than simply eliminating its leadership. He argues that addressing corruption within Mexico’s political, banking, and business sectors is crucial for long-term success. “For us Americans, reality won’t change,” Chavarria added, predicting continued drug flows and violence in Mexico despite this latest development. The death of El Mencho represents a skirmish in a prolonged conflict, and the cycle of violence and leadership succession is likely to continue.