Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, 59, died in a shootout with authorities on Feb. 22, leaving an estimated 62 people dead in the bloody takedown. Thirty-four alleged drug cartel members were killed along with 25 national guardsmen. Nicknamed El Mencho, Oseguera Cervantes was cornered in Tapalpa, Jalisco, where Mexican special forces confronted him. Cartel members fought back with rocket launchers but ultimately were subdued by authorities. The violence has prompted US airlines and international cruise ships to alter their plans and routes until the situation in Mexico settles down.
United, American, Alaska, and Delta flights to tourist destinations in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta were canceled. Meanwhile, Holland America and two Princess Cruise ships abandoned sailings to some ports in Mexico, saying the situation was too dangerous for their passengers. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she hopes to open Puerto Vallarta to tourists again today (Feb. 24).
Mexican Drug Lord — Who Is El Mencho?
El Mencho is not a household name in the United States, but in Mexico, he was considered the “most wanted” of drug lords. The leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Oseguera Cervantes, has been around the drug underworld since the early 1990s. He was briefly incarcerated in the United States in 1994 but was released after three years and returned to Mexico.
Various timelines have Oseguera Cervantes revving up his drug operation in 2009, and, by 2015, he had a $15 million American bounty on his head. Although sources have not confirmed it, most reports indicate that the US military assisted in the takedown of El Mencho.
His cartel was said to have smuggled “vast quantities of drugs into the US,” according to Reuters. This included the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Authorities intended to capture him, but when security forces fired back, there appeared to be no way to take the drug kingpin alive. The importance of disrupting his cartel operation is very significant. From Reuters:
“Arguably Mexico’s most influential crime boss after captured kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, now in a U.S. prison, Oseguera diversified into rackets such as stolen fuel, forced labor and human trafficking.”
El Mencho’s Rise to Fame
El Mencho mostly lived and operated in the shadows with only occasional forays on social media. Born in poverty in 1966, Oseguera Cervantes worked the opium poppy and marijuana fields. Only later was he able to make his way across the border to the north, ostensibly to seek his fortune. However, being arrested in the United States for trafficking in heroin didn’t get him very far. After serving time in an American prison, he was deported back to his homeland, where he joined the police force and then a cartel, where he rapidly rose in the ranks.
Ambitious but shrewd, El Mencho tried to take over the Milenio Cartel, which gave him his start, but he was unsuccessful and broke away to form his own drug operation. He apparently got ahead by winning friends and influencing people in the Mexican political class. An organized crime expert at Columbia University asserted, “El Mencho’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel was one of the biggest buyers of politicians and political campaigns, which has given it an enormous social base.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid deaths have been declining in America over the last two years. Still, 73,000 people are said to have died from heroin and fentanyl overdoses in 2025.
