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Mexican authorities have killed the leader of one of the country’s largest cartels, prompting US calls for tougher action against organized crime and a wave of retaliatory violence.
Mexico’s Defense Ministry said the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera, known as ‘El Mencho’, died on Sunday in an operation by Mexican security forces in coordination with US authorities in Tapalpa, Jalisco state.
Oseguera, 59, turned the CJNG into one of Mexico’s two most powerful crime groups along with the Sinaloa Cartel, expanding its reach across much of the country and playing a leading role in trafficking drugs, including fentanyl, into the US.
Following news of Oseguera’s death, cartel members began a wave of violent blockades, burning cars and attacks on businesses across the state of Jalisco.
Video published by local media shows a Costco store on fire in Puerto Vallarta, a resort city on the coast of Jalisco. Air Canada and United Airlines have temporarily suspended flights to the city.
Jalisco and six other states canceled school classes for Monday as the violence spread.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for calm on Sunday, saying there was “complete coordination between the governments of all states” and that “the vast majority of the national territory” was unaffected by the unrest.
Oseguera’s death comes amid intense pressure from US President Donald Trump to crack down on cartel leaders in Mexico. Trump has used the countries’ important trade ties as leverage and even planned possible US intervention on Mexican soil.
Sheinbaum has dramatically stepped up action against cartels, ending the so-called “no hug” policy adopted by his predecessor, which experts blame for allowing crime groups to expand.
“This is one of the biggest achievements in the government’s fight against organized crime in the last 20 years,” said Armando Vargas, leader of the security program at think-tank Mexico Ivalua.
“The timing is strategic, sending a powerful message to the US about the government’s commitment to weakening organized crime,” he said ahead of the review of the USMCA trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada.
Mexico’s Defense Ministry said Sunday’s operation was part of “bilateral coordination and cooperation with the United States” and “also received complementary information from US officials”.
The ministry said Oseguera died from wounds sustained “during air transport to Mexico City.” Six other members of the CJNG were killed, while weapons, including a rocket launcher capable of shooting down an aircraft, were seized, he said.
The US Embassy issued a “shelter in place” alert for its citizens in Jalisco and several other parts of Mexico following reports of violence in the western state.
Mexican security experts compared the current unrest to the violence that followed the capture of Sinaloa cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in 2024, which later escalated into an ongoing all-out war in Sinaloa state between factions of the group.
Oseguera was a top target of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which offered $15 million for his capture. Analysts said his death is the most significant action against a cartel leader since the arrest of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in 2014.
The CJNG also plays a major role in fuel theft, arms smuggling and extortion.
Whether violence expands in Jalisco will depend on “what kind of succession lines exist and how much they are respected or ignored,” said Wanda Felbab-Brown, director of the Brookings Initiative on Non-State Armed Actors.
“We may see violence really spreading throughout Mexico, and potentially beyond that,” he said.
“Or if it is announced very quickly who the new leader is and everyone kisses the ring, the extent of violence and impact on the criminal landscape may be more limited.”
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau described Oseguera’s death as “a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America and the world”.
“Good guys are stronger than bad guys,” he posted on X.
