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On Sunday (February 22, 2026), the Mexican army killed the nation’s most notorious cartel leader, who was also among the most wanted fugitives in the United States. In retaliation, cartel members unleashed a surge of violence throughout 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.
Here’s what to know about the once powerful drug cartel leader.
Who is El Mencho?
Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” was 59-years old and originally from the Western State of Michoacan. His ties to organised 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.
In 2009, he established the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which rapidly emerged as Mexico’s most rapidly expanding criminal organisation. The cartel engaged in trafficking cocaine, methamphetamines, fentanyl, and migrants into the United States while also adopting innovative violent tactics, such as employing drones and improvised explosive devices.
It gained notoriety for its audacious assaults on Mexican security forces, including the downing of a military helicopter in Jalisco in 2015 and an ambitious, though unsuccessful, assassination attempt on Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch, who currently serves as Mexico’s federal security secretary.
It recruited aggressively, experimenting with new ways to reach potential members online.
What is happening in Mexico?
Following Oseguera Cervantes’ death, gunmen unleashed violence across the country. Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads in nearly a dozen 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 cancelled Monday in several states as security forces were placed on alert all over the country. Moreover, 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.
The U.S. fight against cartels
The intelligence collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico on Sunday’s (February 22) operation helped lead to the killing of the infamous Mexican drug cartel leader.
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 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.”
Jalisco New Generation Cartel
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. It is also a global organisation, and the loss of its leader could be felt well beyond Mexico.
“El Mencho controlled everything, he was like a country’s dictator,” Mr. 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.
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,” he added.
(With AP inputs)
Published – February 23, 2026 11:17 am IST
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Who is El Mencho and what’s happening in Mexico?
