Mexican security forces kill drug cartel boss ‘El Mencho’ | Mexico

One of the world’s most wanted drug dealers, the Mexican cartel boss known as “El Mencho”, has been killed by security forces, Mexico’s Ministry of Defense has confirmed. The operation sparked a wave of violence, with torched cars and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states.

The drug lord, whose real name is Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervanteswas killed on Sunday in the western state of Jalisco along with at least six suspected accomplices, the ministry said in a statement.

The 59-year-old was the leader of a gang that has become in recent years Mexico’s most powerful and notorious criminal organization: the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

While less well-known internationally than the Sinaloa cartel of now-captured Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Jalisco group is a household name in Mexicowhere it is notorious for its displays of ultra-violence and its large, military-style arsenal.

Four cartel members died at the scene, while three more died while being flown to Mexico City, including El Mencho.

Two suspected cartel members were arrested with weapons that included rocket launchers capable of bringing down planes and destroying armored vehicles. Footage Published in one regional newspaper, El Occidental, it showed scenes of what appeared to be heavy fighting in Tapalpa, which is located in Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountain range.

Three troops were injured during the operation and were also transported to the capital for treatment, the ministry added. A Jalisco state official who requested anonymity later told the Associated Press that a member of the National Guard died during the operation in Tapalpa, six other members of the National Guard were killed in Zapopan, a prison guard was killed in a lockup in Puerto Vallarta when inmates rioted, and an agent from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office was killed in Guadalajara. Further details were not immediately available.

The Ministry of Defense said the US authorities provided “supplementary information” which contributed to the success of the operation.

El Mencho’s assassination caused an immediate outbreak of disorder in the region he ruled, displaying his great influence over Mexico and other parts of Latin America. The unrest forced US and Canadian airlines to cancel dozens of flights. Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta “due to an ongoing security situation” and advised customers not to go to their airport.

On Sunday, “narco” roadblocks of burning cars, buses and trucks could be seen opposite at least eight Mexican states: Jalisco, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Michoacán, Colima, Guerrero, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas. Video footage shows huge clouds of smoke rising into the sky above Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist city on Mexico’s west coast known for its spectacular Pacific beaches.

There were scenes of chaos in Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara – one of the 2026 World Cup host cities – as panicked passengers at the airport ran for coverapparently fearing retaliatory attacks from El Mencho’s fighters. Armed men were seen burning vehicles in the heart of the city.

,one video posted on social media showed a group of heavily armed men setting fire to a gas station in Guadalajara after pulling up in a white car.

By Sunday evening, Guadalajara turned into a ghost town as civilians drowned. School was canceled in several states on Monday.

The US has offered a $15m (£11m) reward for the capture of El Mencho, who has been accused of smuggling large quantities of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine across its southern border. El Mencho’s cartel, which was founded about 16 years ago and has become Mexico’s most influential crime group, has also been accused of trying to assassinate Mexican government officials.

Senior US officials celebrated El Mencho’s killing, which follows months of pressure from Donald Trump over the influx of drugs and migrants across the 1,954-mile (3,145 km) border between the two countries. The US president even threatened military action against cartels he claimed “run Mexico”. Writing on X, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called El Mencho “one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug queens.” I posted: “This is a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America and the world.”

The exact circumstances of El Mencho’s killing, which analysts called the biggest blow to Mexico’s cartels in more than a decade, remained unclear Sunday. The defense ministry said special forces troops from the army and national guard launched an operation in Tapalpa, a town about 80 miles southwest of Jalisco state’s capital, Guadalajara, to capture the fugitive drug lord, with support from the air force and military intelligence. However, as they did so, “military personnel attacked” and fought back.

The US Embassy in Mexico said the operation was carried out by Mexican special forces “within the framework of bilateral cooperation, with US authorities providing complementary intelligence.”

The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which specializes in intelligence gathering on drug cartels, played a role in the military raid, a US defense official told Reuters. The task force was quietly launched late last year with the goal of profiling networks of drug cartel members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. officials said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called “El Mencho” a major “trafficker of fentanyl into our homeland,” adding that he was a top target for the U.S. government. She confirmed that the US provided “intelligence support” to Mexico to help with the operation.

As the unrest grew, Jalisco’s state governor, Pablo Lemus Navarro, urged his 8 million citizens to stay home “until the situation is brought back under control.” Lemus said public transport services were suspended and that people should not travel on the state’s roads due to the “violent events” that had spread to at least five parts of the country.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City also reached out a security alerturging US citizens in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon states to “shelter in place” in affected regions due to “security operations and related roadblocks and criminal activity.”

Canada’s government said: “Criminal groups have set up roadblocks with burning vehicles in several cities in the state of Jalisco… There have been shootouts with security forces and explosions… If you are (there), keep a low profile (and) monitor local and international media to stay abreast of the rapidly developing situation.”

Landau responded to the attacks after El Mencho’s murder

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said: “There is absolute coordination with the governments of all states; we must remain informed and calm.

“The Security Cabinet’s social media accounts provide continuous updates. Activities continue normally across most of the country.”