El Mencho’s Death:Mexico’s most wanted drug lord and the leader of the feared Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) drug cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, widely known as “El Mencho," was killed on Sunday during a major military operation in the western state of Jalisco, authorities confirmed. His death has triggered large-scale protests and violence across the North American nation.
The 59-year-old drug lord was seriously injured during a clash with security forces in the town of Tapalpa. He later died while being airlifted to Mexico City.
Oseguera had long been one of the most wanted men in the world, with a $15 million US bounty on his head. His cartel, known for its military-style tactics and brutal expansion, had grown into one of Mexico’s most dominant criminal organisations since its formation in 2009.
Special Forces from the Mexican Army led the mission, working off intelligence gathered by the National Intelligence Center and the Attorney General’s Office (FEMDO). Air Force aircraft and the National Guard’s Immediate Reaction Special Force joined in to support the attempt to capture El Mencho. Once on the ground, the military unit was attacked. They returned fire in self-defense. The US had given Mexico information that assisted the operation.
Officials said at least four to six suspected cartel gunmen were killed, three soldiers were wounded, and two suspects were arrested. Security forces also seized a cache of heavy weapons, including rocket launchers.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau welcomed the development and called Oseguera “one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins."
Born in 1966, Oseguera briefly lived in the United States in the 1980s before being deported following a drug conviction. He rose through cartel ranks in the 2000s and eventually took control of CJNG, turning it into a transnational criminal enterprise trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl into the United States.
He was indicted by US federal prosecutors on multiple drug trafficking and weapons charges but continued to evade capture for years. The US government has classified the group as a terrorist organisation, owing to the scale of its global impact.
The cartel Oseguera built became notorious for trafficking cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States, according to the US Justice Department.
CJNG was formed in 2009 and became one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico, having the highest cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine trafficking capacity- initially in Mexico and then to the US.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
