“El Mencho,” a notorious cartel leader who was killed in Mexico, had a violent history

He was known as “El Mencho” and was one of the most wanted men on the continent. The leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, whose full name was Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, he was killed on Sunday on military duty in western Mexico.

Violence broke out following the operation that led to the death of Oseguera Cervantes, in which six other people died and many were arrested. Mexican authorities say they have seized armored vehicles, rocket launchers and other weapons from suspected cartel members. Three members of the military were also injured in Mexico.

The violence that erupted on Sunday is part of a long-running conflict between Mexican authorities and company, CJNG.

Oseguera Cervantes had been wanted by the United States for years, it is suspected that he and CJNG sold fentanyl and other drugs in the US At the time of his death, the State Department offered a reward of 15 million dollars for information leading to his arrest.

Who is Mesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes?

Born in Mexico, Oseguera Cervantes entered the US illegally in the 1980s and lived in California for years. He ended up being arrested on drug charges again he was deported to Mexicobut he returned to the US illegally.

He was arrested again on drug charges in 1992 and, after serving three years in prison and being released on parole, was deported to Mexico a second time, according to BBC News and other reports.

Back in Mexico, he began to rise to the top of one of the most powerful groups in the country.

El Mencho and the history of CJNG violence in Mexico

After breaking away from the Milenio Cartel, US officials say Oseguera Cervantes and others formed the CJNG around 2011.

“CJNG is heavily involved in the manufacture, trade and distribution of illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine, as well as maintaining a major money laundering operation,” according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

In 2019, the DEA estimated that CJNG was responsible for at least one-third of all drugs entering the US by air and sea.

Former DEA agent Matthew Donahue told CBS News at the time that Oseguera Cervantes was “the best thing in the DEA and frankly in federal law enforcement in the United States.”

President Trump, in February of last year, signed an executive order designating the CJNG and seven other groups as foreign terrorist organizations. Then in May, federal prosecutors used that name to indict Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez, 39, for allegedly to supply bombs to the CJNG.

“He has tons of weapons, RPGs, 50 weapons. He actually has his own SWAT teams,” Donahue said.

Those types of weapons have been used to assert, expand and maintain cartels’ control throughout the country in a violent and often daring manner.

In 2020, a cartel attempted to assassinate Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch, who now serves as Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Public Protection. On his way to the meeting in an armored SUV, García was attacked by members of the CJNG armed with high-powered rifles, grenades and body armor, according to Mexico News Daily. He survived, but two of his bodyguards and an unharmed woman were killed.

US prosecutors also alleged that in 2015, the convoy shot down a Mexican military aircraft with an RPG during a Mexican campaign to target the convoys in Jalisco.

CJNG violence was also often highly targeted.

Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, who was the leader of the high party, is suspected to be they captured two members of the Mexican Navy in 2021 in an effort to have El Mencho’s wife released after she was arrested by Mexican authorities. According to prosecutors, El Mencho told people he killed Gutierrez-Ochoa by lying, but Gutierrez-Ochoa lied about his death again. they fled from Mexico to Riverside, California. Oseguera Cervantes’ wife was finally released from prison in February 2025.

The CJNG has been accused of using false job advertisements in an attempt to attract new members, then forcing unsuspecting applicants to join the bandwagon. It is suspected that the car had it tortured or killed those who tried to resist or escape. In March, burnt bones, shoes and clothes were found by a group of people who were looking for missing relatives found in what is believed to be a CJNG training ground.

El Mencho’s son, Rubén Oseguera – known as “El Menchito” – he was sentenced in March 2025 life in prison after being convicted in the US on drug and weapons charges.

“El Menchito led the Jalisco Cartel’s efforts to use murder, kidnapping, and torture to build the Cartel into a self-described ‘kingdom’ for producing fentanyl and flooding the United States with an abundance of the deadly drug,” said former US Attorney General Merrick Garland in September 2024.

Before his death, Oseguera Cervantes was also charged with several crimes in the US. His most recent conviction came in April 2022, when he was charged with manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl for importation into the US and using a firearm during and related to a drug trafficking crime, according to the State Department.