How Mexico killed the powerful cartel leader ‘El Mencho’ and what it
means
[February 23, 2026]
By MARÍA VERZA
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful
cartel leader and one of the United States’ most wanted fugitives on
Sunday, notching a major victory while cartel members responded with a
wave violence across the country.
The killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera
Cervantes during an attempt to capture him in Jalisco state was the
highest-profile blow against cartels since the recapture of former
Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán a decade ago.
Following Oseguera Cervantes' death, gunmen unleashed violence across
the country. Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads in 20
Mexican states and left smoke billowing into the air. People locked
themselves in their homes in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city
and Jalisco's capital, and school was canceled Monday in several states
as security forces were placed on alert all over the country. Even
Guatemala reinforced security on its border with Mexico.
The killing could give the government a leg up in its dealings with the
U.S. Trump administration, which has been threatening tariffs or
unilateral military action if Mexico does not show results in the fight
against the cartels.
But the long-term effect on Mexico's security landscape remains unclear.
Here's what to know:
‘El Mencho’ was the leader of a fast-growing criminal group
Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” was 59 years old and
originally from the western state of Michoacan. His ties to organized
crime went back at least three decades.
In 1994, he was tried for trafficking heroin in the U.S. and sent to
prison for three years. Upon returning to Mexico, he quickly rose
through Mexico's drug trafficking underworld.
Around 2009, he founded the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which became
Mexico's fastest-growing criminal organization, moving cocaine,
methamphetamines, fentanyl and migrants to the United States, and
innovating in violence with the use of drones and improvised explosive
devices.
The cartel earned a reputation for brazen attacks on Mexican security
forces, including downing a military helicopter in Jalisco in 2015 and
attempting a spectacular, but unsuccessful, assassination of Mexico City
Police Chief Omar García Harfuch, who is now Mexico's federal security
secretary.
It recruited aggressively, experimenting with new ways to reach
potential members online, and generated revenue through fuel theft,
extortion and timeshare fraud, among other activities.
Oseguera Cervantes died in a battle with troops sent to capture him
Oseguera Cervantes was killed during an attempt to capture him, as his
followers attempted to fight off Mexican troops.
Mexico's Defense Department said in a statement that the army launched
an operation in the southern part of Jalisco state to capture Oseguera
Cervantes, involving the Mexican Air Force and special forces.
The cartel counterattacked, and in the ensuing confrontation, federal
forces killed four members of the criminal group, and wounded three
others, including its leader, who died later during transfer by air to
Mexico City, according to the statement.
Three soldiers were injured and two people were detained in the action.
Rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying
armored vehicles were seized at the scene.
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Pedestrians walk past a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, on
a road in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026,
after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel,
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP
Photo/Armando Solis)
Mexico is keen to show Trump results in the fight against cartels
Oseguera Cervantes' will help Mexico's government show results to
the U.S., which is pressuring its neighbor to pursue drug cartels
more aggressively. Both countries said intelligence collaboration
helped lead to Sunday's operation.
Oseguera Cervantes was facing multiple indictments in the United
States and the U.S. State Department had offered a $15 million
reward for information leading to his arrest. The Trump
administration designated his cartel and others foreign terrorist
organizations a year ago.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who was U.S.
ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration,
applauded the operation via X, writing “The good guys are stronger
than the bad guys. Congratulations to the forces of law and order in
the great Mexican nation.”
Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the DEA,
said Mexico had sent a “a strong message to Donald Trump's
administration that they are fighting aggressively and effectively”
against the most powerful cartels. He added that “the majority of
the information came from the Mexican armed forces and all credit
goes to Mexico.”
Cartel leader's death leaves a power vacuum
It's not clear who will succeed Oseguera Cervantes, or if any one
person can.
The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico's 32
states and is active in almost all of the United States, according
to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. But it is also a global
organization and the loss of its leader could be felt well beyond
Mexico.
“El Mencho controlled everything, he was like a country's dictator,”
Vigil said.
His absence could slow the cartel's rapid growth and expansion and
leave it initially weakened against the Sinaloa cartel on several
fronts where they or their proxies are fighting. The Sinaloa is
locked in its own internal power struggle, however, between the sons
of “El Chapo” and the faction loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who
is in U.S. custody.
Vigil said Mexico should seize the moment to launch “an effective
frontal assault based on intelligence.”
“This is a big opportunity for Mexico and the United States if they
work together,” he said.
Security analyst David Saucedo said that if relatives of Oseguera
Cervantes take control of the cartel, the violence seen Sunday could
continue. If others take power, they could be more willing to turn
the page and continue operations.
The greatest fear would be that the cartel turns to indiscriminate
violence. They could decide to “launch narcoterrorism attacks ...
and generate a scenario similar to what Colombia lived in the
1990s,” a full on attack against the government “car bombs,
assassinations and attacks on aircraft.”
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