MEXICO CITY – The Secretariat of National Defense of Mexico confirmed this Sunday the death of Rubén Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, top leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), during a military operation carried out in the municipality of Tapalpa, in the state of Jalisco, with the support of information provided by United States authorities.
According to the official statement, the operation also left four members of the CJNG killed and at least three members of that organization seriously injured. Three Mexican soldiers were also injured in the confrontation and were taken to hospitals to receive specialized care.
The Secretary of Defense indicated that the action was developed within the framework of bilateral cooperation with the United States and included complementary information provided by US agencies, as part of joint efforts against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.
“For the execution of this operation, in addition to the central military intelligence work, within the framework of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the United States of America, complementary information was available from the authorities of that country,” they indicated in a statement.
Wave of violence
Oseguera’s death sparked an immediate violent reaction from the CJNG in large areas of the country. State and federal authorities reported road blockades, vehicle burning, business fires and attacks on public infrastructure in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Colima, Guerrero, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Zacatecas and Tamaulipas.
In Jalisco, Governor Pablo Lemus decreed a red code throughout the state, activated the security table and ordered the suspension of public transportation. In Guadalajara, fires were recorded in vehicles, gas stations and commercial establishments, as well as the placement of metal devices to puncture tires on streets and highways.
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, avoided directly confirming the death of the kingpin and delegated the information to the Security Cabinet, which reported that federal forces were addressing the blockades resulting from the operations.
Considered for years the most powerful boss in Mexico, Oseguera Cervantes was among the main targets of Mexican and US authorities.
Oseguera Cervantes, 56, was one of the most wanted criminals by Mexican and American authorities, with a million-dollar reward for information leading to his capture.
Under his leadership, the CJNG consolidated itself as one of the most powerful and violent criminal organizations in the country.
The United States accused him of leading a “reign of terror” in Mexico and destroying “countless lives” with fentanyl trafficking, and offered up to $15 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
The CJNG is one of the Mexican cartels that Washington declared terrorist since last year.
US reaction
Upon learning of the death of “El Mencho”, the US Undersecretary of State, Christopher Landau, was one of the first senior officials to react publicly to the
“The good ones are more than the bad ones,” he wrote in the message.
