After spending years evading authorities worldwide, apowerful Mexican cartel leaderwas killed during a military operation, Mexican officials announced on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, commonly known as "El Mencho," rose through the ranks and launched a deadly coup to become the leader of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). The criminal enterprise rapidly grew into a continent-spanning empire that rivaled its former allies in the Sinaloa Cartel, run by kingpinJoaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is serving life in prison.
In 2024, the U.S. Department of State offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Oseguera's arrest and/or conviction. After reports of his death surfaced, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau described "El Mencho" in asocial media postas "one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins."
Here's what to know about the Mexican drug lord:
What was his real name?
He was bornRubén Oseguera Cervanteson July 17, 1966, in the small farming city of Aguililla in the western state of Michoacán, according toThe Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. He later adopted the name Nemesio, some say to honor his godfather. It was shortened to "El Mencho" and has no other known meaning.
Why was 'El Mencho' so dangerous?
A powerful drug kingpin with 5,000 members spread across every continent except Antarctica, Oseguera's brutal cartel is blamed for kidnappings, torture, murders, cannibalism, and the spread of fentanyl — which surpassed heroin as America's deadliest illicit drug.
"More recently, CJNG operatives, allegedly under Oseguera Cervantes' direction, were involved in assassination attempts of Mexican government officials," the State Department said in December 2024.
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How did 'El Mencho' rise to power?
Unlike some cartel leaders who inherited leadership positions from family dynasties, his parents were farm workers who carved out a living in Aguililla, a city of fewer than 20,000 people in Michoacán, known as the world's avocado capital. Oseguera dropped out of school after the sixth grade to pick avocados.
"El Mencho" eventually made his way to Tijuana, the prominent border town for American tourists and feuding Mexican cartels. There, he grew his drug-smuggling business in San Diego. Court and prison records show he has entered the United States at least three times and was repeatedly deported.
After being ordered to leave the area by another organization, "El Mencho" joined the police force in Tomatlán, a small city south of Puerto Vallarta in the western state of Jalisco.
Eventually, Oseguera returned to his native Michoacán, where he joined the Milenio Cartel, an entrenched criminal organization operating since at least the early 1990s. Milenio eventually tapped "El Mencho," a skilledsicario— or assassin — to lead one of its cells in Guadalajara as a cartel lieutenant.
As Oseguera rose through the ranks of Milenio, he expected to be rewarded with the top position. But when some of the cartel's leaders were arrested or killed in 2008 and 2009, "El Mencho" wasn't promoted.
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Incensed, Oseguera plotted revenge in 2009 and 2010 with others who were unhappy with Milenio's new leadership and spearheaded a deadly coup. He emerged victorious in early 2011, and his new cartel was christened the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación.
What did 'El Mencho' control?
Oseguera controlled several key drug trafficking routes and hubs in Mexico and gave orders to the "capo," or plaza boss, similar to a mafia lieutenant.
His cartel dominates much of Guadalajara and controls the outskirts of Jalisco, as well as other states such as Colima and Michoacán. CJNG has spread to most of Mexico's 32 states, with an increasing presence in Tijuana and Mexico City.
As the boss, "El Mencho" set thepiso, or tax, that business owners and independent drug traffickers had to pay the capos for protection. Oseguera also assumed control of corrupt police officers and politicians.
"El Mencho's Jalisco New Generation Cartel was one of the biggest buyers of politicians and political campaigns, which has given it an enormous social base," Edgardo Buscaglia, an organized crime expert at Columbia University, toldReuters.
What was 'El Mencho' charged with in the United States?
Oseguera was the lead defendant in a federal indictment returned in the District of Columbia in 2017, accusing him of leading a continuing criminal enterprise. He was also charged with conspiring to send large amounts of drugs into the United States and using firearms during these drug trafficking crimes.
Oseguera also faced meth trafficking charges from a 2013 federal indictment in Gulfport, Mississippi.
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How did 'El Mencho' avoid capture for so long?
Despite a $15 million bounty, Oseguera stayed on the move for years and dodged manhunts that began within a year of his rise to power in 2011. He was rarely seen, staying in remote compounds that made it harder for police to breach, and didn't do drugs or drink alcohol to avoid slip-ups, the Courier Journal reported in 2019.
U.S. drug agents and Mexican authorities teamed to root out El Mencho's hiding spots at least three times. Police raided his secret compounds in 2012 and 2018, but he escaped, the newspaper reported.
According to the Courier Journal, the Mexican military also learned Oseguera's hiding spot and headed to get him in two military helicopters in May 2015. But his menshot down one of the helicopterswith a Russian-made rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'El Mencho' killed in Jalisco, Mexico. Who was the cartel leader?
