El Mencho killed in Mexico: Tensions have rocked Mexico after the killing of a top drug cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho. The infamous drug kingpin was killed during a raid by Mexican authorities in Jalisco after which criminal groups reportedly burned cars and trucks to block roads.
Oseguera or ‘El Mencho’ led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel or CJNG, responsible for trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl to the US. According to the US National Counterterrorism Center, the cartel also trafficked drugs to Australia, Canada, Europe, Africa and South America, Bloomberg said in a report.
Follow live updates on El Mencho’s killing and tensions in Mexico here.
Who was El Mencho?
Originally from Aguililla in Mexico’s Michoacan state, El Mencho had been associated with drug trafficking since the 1990s.
According to Associated Press, Oseguera had migrated to the US when he was young and had been convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin by a court in California back in 1994. He was deported to Mexico from the US after serving time, Bloomberg reported.
Upon his return to Mexico, drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel” helped Oseguera reengage with drug trafficking.
After Villarreal’s death, El Mencho found the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in 2009. The Sinaloa Cartel was in close competition to El Mencho’s cartel for years in Mexico, reported AP.
El Mencho had been indicted several times in the US, the most recent being in April 2022 in Columbia, with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) into the US.
What is happening in Mexico?
Oseguera Cervantes or El Mencho was among seven members of the CJNG drug cartel killed during or after the recent raid carried out by Mexican authorities in Jalisco. El Mencho’s killing has sparked tensions in Mexico, with criminal groups reportedly blocking roads and burning cars in nearly a dozen states. Schools were also closed in Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara on Monday.
Flight ops around the tourist hotspot of Puerto Vallarta were reportedly hit amid ongoing tensions. According to Bloomberg, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion SAB, known as Volaris, and Grupo Viva Aerobus SAB have temporarily suspended operations and flight tracking websites showed airlines turning around en route to the city.
Four people were killed during the operation and Oseguera Cervantes was among those wounded, but he also succumbed to the injuries after being flown to Mexico City.