New Delhi: Mexico’s most wanted druglord, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantesho, who led the drug cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) was killed on Monday. He was also known as “El Mencho,” and he was on the ‘most wanted’ list of the US too. The US authorities had even announced a bounty of USD 15 million for any information on the man.
El Mencho died after getting wounded in a military operation by the Mexico government. The government launched the operation in order to capture him and prove to the US that it was serious about acting against the powerful drug lords in the region. The operation was launched in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara.
Riots broke out in several towns, especially those where the cartel is strong, following the death of El Mencho.
Who Was El Mencho
Cervantesho, popularly known as El Mencho, was a former police officer. He was born in 1966 in a poor village located in Michoacan. This western state of Mexico is infamous for its lawlessness and illegal cultivation of opium poppies and marijuana. He used to work in the fields before moving to the US to try his luck in that country. Unfortunately however, he got involved in the drug trade in the US.
He was arrested in the US for his alleged involvement in the heroin trade. He served time in a US prison for a few years, before being deported back to Mexico. Following his return to his home country, Cervantesho joined the police force for a short period. He however left the force soon after joining the Milenio Cartel, a satellite of the Sinaloa Cartel.
He started working as a cartel assassin in that group of drug peddlers. He tried to take over the Milenio Cartel, but after failing at this attempt, he set out to make his own gang. He founded the CJNG cartel in alliance with some local money launderers and this cartel declared war on Sinaloa.
This cartel has been involved in smuggling of large quantities of drugs into the US, including synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is blamed for several drug overdose deaths there. The cartel founded by El Mencho was named after the western state of Jalisco.
The CJNG was not only involved in drug trafficking but also in kidnapping and extortions. In a very short period of time, El Mencho managed to overtake his rivals in the crime world and his cartel became one of the most feared and biggest drug trafficking networks in the country.
He managed to evade arrest for years. Apart from drug trade, the man was also involved in stolen fuel, forced labor and human trafficking. He is described as one of the most influential drug lords in Mexico, after the captured kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman. Guzman is currently lodged in a US prison.
Targets of El Mencho’s gang
According to reports, the targets of El Mencho had a brutal ending. His gangmen used to behead people in order to intimidate the public. According to a report in NDTV, his gang killed nearly two dozen police personnel within just 6 weeks.
The cartel also targeted the then Police Chief of Mexico City in 2020. Fortunately however, Omar Garcia Harfuch survived the assassination attempt, but 2 of his bodyguards were killed in the attack by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. As of now, Harfuch is the country’s security chief and was overseeing the capture of Cervantesho.