Here’s what to know about ‘El Mencho’ and the cartel he created

Mexico’s most-wanted transgression and caput of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) was killed Sunday greeting pursuing a convulsive subject cognition aimed astatine his capture.

Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, 59, reportedly died en way to Mexico City following his apprehension and wounded successful Tapalpa, an different quaint municipality located immoderate 130 kilometers from the superior metropolis of Guadalajara successful the Jalisco highlands.

Part of the Defense Ministry’s method rap expanse connected Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (“El Mencho”) from his apprehension Sunday morning. The CJNG caput died from his wounds connected the mode to the hospital. (Cuartoscuro.com)

The question of blockades and attacks recorded connected Sunday is interpreted, successful the discourse of the day’s news, arsenic the operational effect of the CJNG to the autumn of its leader. 

But wherefore did El Mencho’s decease make specified a large-scale retaliation? Here’s what you request to know. 

Who was ‘El Mencho’?

El Mencho engineered a seismic displacement successful the scenery of organized transgression successful Mexico. Under his leadership, the CJNG began to employment 3 strategies: accelerated nationalist expansion, large-scale diversification of transgression businesses (drugs, quality traffic, robbery, extorsion and more) and brazen unit that openly defied the Mexican government.

Born connected July 17, 1966, successful a mediocre and agrarian assemblage associated with cause accumulation successful the authorities of Michoacán, El Mencho became progressive successful the cause concern successful his adolescence. 

In the 1980s, helium illegally migrated to California — 1 of the world’s starring illicit cause markets — wherever helium was doubly arrested and deported for drug-related crimes. After spending 3 years successful situation and pursuing his merchandise connected parole, helium stayed successful Mexico and reportedly worked arsenic a constabulary serviceman successful Jalisco. 

Soon after, helium joined the now-extinct Milenio Cartel arsenic a hitman, wherever helium oversaw the organization’s information and operational unit until the autumn of his bosses successful the aboriginal 2000s.

After helium divided from the Milenio Cartel, helium joined forces with his brother-in-law Abigael González Valencia — person of a transgression enactment known arsenic Los Cuinis — to signifier a caller cause organization. 

With González’s archetypal fiscal aid, El Mencho began to physique what would go 1 of the astir almighty and ruthless transgression organizations successful Mexico. 

But contempt his organization’s size, El Mencho was ever characterized for keeping a precise debased idiosyncratic profile. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lone possessed 3 pictures of him from erstwhile helium was an amerciable migrant successful the U.S. 

However, his modus operandi made him well-known for utmost violence, including massacres, attacks connected national forces, the downing of a subject chopper and coordinated blockades crossed respective states.

Mexican authorities and the DEA regarded him arsenic 1 of the world’s astir wanted criminals, offering a reward of up to US $15 cardinal for accusation starring to his capture.

The emergence of the CJNG

Security experts hold that successful hardly a decade, the CJNG managed to surpass each different transgression organizations successful presumption of standard and control. 

“There has ne'er been a much almighty enactment than CJNG, and [El Mencho] was its apical leader,” information expert Eduardo Guerrero Gutiérrez said in an interrogation with N+. “In a decade, it managed to surpass, by a wide margin, each different transgression organizations successful presumption of presence, territorial control, and penetration into the spheres of powerfulness and business,” helium said. 

As this 2024 Spanish-language reward poster indicates, El Mencho was a wanted antheral connected some sides of the border. (U.S. DEA)

Experts hold that the CJNG managed to exploit the vacuums near by erstwhile cartels to physique its transgression web successful Mexico and abroad. From its stronghold successful Jalisco, the CJNG expanded its power to aggregate states crossed the country, particularly on the Pacific coast, displacing accepted cartels done section alliances and the strategical usage of violence. 

Due to its immense nationwide presence, the CJNG was identified by the Mexican authorities arsenic the cardinal origin successful the emergence successful unit successful antithetic areas of the country. 

One of the strategies contributing to the cartel’s emergence was its power of proscription corridors. For instance, it built a beardown beingness successful borderline cities similar Tijuana, cardinal to accessing the U.S. market. It controls maritime routes successful the Pacific, and operates a trafficking web spanning astir 10,000 kilometers of coastline from South America to North America.

Moreover, it created connections to networks successful the U.S. and Canada, and operates planetary routes to Europe, Asia and Oceania done operations astatine strategical ports and aerial terminals for cause trafficking.

Due to the planetary scope of the CJNG, its convulsive tactics and its easiness of flooding the U.S. marketplace with lethal substances, U.S. President Donald Trump designated the cause cartel arsenic a foreign violent enactment past year.   

What volition hap next?

The decease of El Mencho has created a powerfulness vacuum successful an enactment that had ne'er experienced an interior succession process. Since its foundation, the cartel has had 1 accordant and almighty leader: El Mencho.

Experts enactment that the astir apt result doesn’t needfully see the disappearance of the CJNG. Rather, they expect much unit successful cardinal areas, changes successful bid and an adjacent much fragmented and volatile transgression scenery wrong Mexico.

With reports from Animal Político and El País