Mexico’s most wanted drug lord Nemesio Rubn Oseguera Cervantes, the feared cartel leader famously known as “El Mencho”, killed in a military operation in Mexico, the country’s defence ministry has announced.
The fugitive drug trafficker succumbed to serious injuries sustained in a military raid in the western state of Jalisco, as per the ministry. It also said El Mencho died during an air transfer to Mexico City.
The criminal organisation led by El Mencho, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), has expanded over the past decade to become the most dominant organised crime syndicate in Mexico, while also establishing itself as a significant supplier of illegal drugs to the United States.
Oseguera’s death triggered large-scale violence across several Mexican states, including Jalisco, where vehicles were set ablaze and armed men blocked highways.
These kinds of strategies are commonly employed by cartels in Mexico to hinder military operations.
Videos circulating widely on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising above the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta, while panicked travelers were seen running through the airport in the state capital.
In Guadalajara, burning vehicles were used to obstruct key roads.
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro called on residents to stay indoors until authorities brought the situation under control.
This military operation by Mexican government came at a time when the country is facing immense pressure from the US President Donald Trump’s administration to ramp up its drug trafficking crackdown.
The US also threatened to directly intervene if Mexican government failed to take any substantive action against these drug cartels, was part of Washington’s pressure tactics.
The United States had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Oseguera, accusing him of coordinating large-scale shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into North America.
Last year only, Trump administration designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organisation.
The US noted Oseguera’s killing as a “great development” for the US and Mexico, along with rest of Latin America.
