At least 73 people are dead following Mexico’s military operation to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel known as El Mencho. The body count includes security forces, suspected cartel members, and others caught up in the violent aftermath that gripped much of the country.
El Mencho led one of the fastest growing criminal networks in Mexico, responsible for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine to the United States and known for staging brazen attacks on government officials. His capture had been a priority for both Mexican and American authorities for years. What nobody anticipated was the scale of carnage that would follow.
Mexican defence secretary Ricardo Trevilla said authorities tracked one of Oseguera Cervantes’ romantic partners to his hideout in Tapalpa, in his home state of Jalisco. When the military moved in, the cartel boss and two bodyguards fled into wooded terrain where they were seriously wounded in a firefight. All three were taken into custody but died while being transported to Mexico City.
The cartel’s response was immediate and ferocious. Roads were blocked, vehicles set ablaze, and violence erupted across multiple states. Among the dead were 25 members of the Mexican National Guard, killed in six separate attacks. Security secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch confirmed around 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco, with four more in neighbouring Michoacan. A prison guard and a state prosecutor’s agent were also among the casualties.
Several Mexican states cancelled schools on Monday. The US Embassy told its personnel in eight cities to shelter in place and work remotely. More than 1,000 people were stranded overnight in Guadalajara as fearful residents stayed indoors. President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm, and by Monday, authorities said all 250 plus cartel roadblocks across 20 states had been cleared.
The White House confirmed the US provided intelligence support for the operation. Mexico hoped the killing of the world’s biggest fentanyl trafficker would ease pressure from the Trump administration to act more aggressively against the cartels. Whether that hope proves well founded depends entirely on what the Jalisco cartel does next, and whether a power vacuum creates more problems than El Mencho himself ever did.