Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes ( 17 July 1966 – 22 February 2026), also known by his Cartel alias El Mencho ([el ˈmentʃo]), was a Mexican drug lord and head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an organized crime group based in Jalisco.

He was the most wanted person in Mexico and one of the most wanted in the United States at the time of his death. The U.S. government and the Mexican government were offering rewards of up to US$15 million and MXN $300 million, respectively, for information leading to his arrest.

He was wanted for drug trafficking, organized crime involvement, and undocumented possession of firearms. El Mencho was allegedly responsible for coordinating global drug trafficking operations. Under his command, the CJNG became one of Mexico's leading criminal organizations.

Born into poverty in the state of Michoacán, El Mencho grew avocados and dropped out of primary school before immigrating illegally to the U.S. in the 1980s. After being arrested several times, he was deported to Mexico in the early 1990s and worked for the Milenio Cartel. He eventually climbed to the top of the criminal organization and founded the CJNG after several of his bosses were arrested or killed.

His notoriety was also a result of his aggressive leadership and sensationalist acts of violence against both rival criminal groups and Mexican security forces alike. These attacks brought him increased government attention and an extensive manhunt. Security forces suspected he was hiding in the rural terrains of Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and/or Colima, and was guarded by mercenaries with former military training.

On 22 February 2026, Oseguera was killed during a military operation in the state of Jalisco.

Spouse - Rosalinda González Valencia, ​(m. 1996; sep. 2018)​

Children - 3, including Rubén Oseguera González
Relatives Abigael González Valencia (brother-in-law)

Criminal charges

Since the 2000s, the DEA office in Los Angeles, California, has been tracking El Mencho's activities. The DEA detected that the CJNG had expanded its drug-trafficking operations internationally. In 2000, the U.S. government discovered that El Mencho was involved in a cocaine and methamphetamine operation internationally. Five years later, they discovered he had used firearms to facilitate his operations.

In 2007, the DEA discovered that El Mencho was involved in a cocaine operation that went through Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and ended in the United States. They also uncovered a second cocaine shipment from Colombia, Mexico, to the United States. In 2009, the DEA detected that El Mencho was involved in another cocaine shipment originating from Ecuador. Two more shipments were then detected in 2013 from Mexico then again to the United States. In 2014, however, the DEA noticed a radical shift in the CJNG's modus operandi; El Mencho was discovered to have coordinated a methamphetamine shipment that went from Mexico to Australia then to the U.S. by leveraging China-based gangs.

On 27 September 2011, Mexico's Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR) issued an arrest warrant for El Mencho and offered MXN$2 million for anyone who can help provide information that leads to his arrest. He was accused of organized crime involvement and illegal possession of firearms. In March 2014, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, based on the previous investigations by the DEA, indicted El Mencho for several charges, including drug trafficking and for being leaders of a "Continuing Criminal Enterprise". El Mencho and Abigael were accused of coordinating shipments of cocaine and methamphetamine from South America via Mexico to the United States. They also stated that the CJNG and Los Cuinis coordinated the collection and delivery of the drug proceeds from the U.S. to Mexico. In addition, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas is looking to convict El Mencho for drug trafficking offenses.

On 18 December 2017, seventeen year-old YouTube star Juan Luis Lagunas Rosales, known as "El Pirata de Culiacán" (English: The Pirate from Culiacán), was gunned down in a bar in Jalisco by a group of four men armed with rifles, shortly after Lagunas Rosales published videotaped insults towards El Mencho. Police are investigating whether El Mencho gave the order to execute him, but no charges have been filed.

On 15 August 2018, the PGR announced they were offering up to MXN$30 million to anyone who provides information that leads to El Mencho's capture. This announcement was made public when the DEA and Mexican authorities prepared to reveal a new cooperation plan against organized crime, which included a stronger focus against their financial structure and the creation of a law enforcement group responsible for investigating international cases. The bounty derives from a new arrest warrant issued against him for his alleged participation in masterminding the kidnapping and murder of two agents of the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC), a branch of the PGR, in February 2018.

On 16 October 2018, the Departments of State, Justice, and Treasury announced a joint law-enforcement measure against the CJNG, and increased El Mencho's bounty to US$10 million from US$5 million. This increase was one of the largest approved in the history of the Narcotics Rewards Program.

In December 2024, it was announced that the bounty on El Mencho would increase from US$10 million to US$15 million.

Family

El Mencho had five brothers: Juan, Miguel, Antonio, Marín, and Abraham. In the 1990s, Abraham was given a 10-year prison sentence in California. In 2013, Mexican authorities accused him of murder in Michoacán. The charges were later dropped and the case was closed.

Marín was accused in a California court, but the charges are not available to the public. Antonio lived in the U.S. and was released from a Mississippi prison in 2001 after completing his sentence for property damage charges. He was arrested in Jalisco on 4 December 2015, by the Mexican Army and Navy for working as one of El Mencho's top financial operators. According to the Mexican government, Juan and Miguel are involved with the CJNG. Juan was charged in Michoacán for burglary, but the case was later dismissed.

Rosalinda González Valencia is the wife of El Mencho. They have three children: Jessica Johanna Oseguera González [fr], Laisha, and Rubén Oseguera González (alias "El Menchito). Jessica Johanna is married to Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez (alias "El Ojo de Vidrio"), first arrested on 1 May 2015. He was released on 1 July for lack of evidence, but was re-arrested again on 6 April 2016, for his involvement in the CJNG.

El Mencho's son Rubén was regarded by the Mexican government as the second-in-command in the CJNG prior to his arrest in 2014. He was released from prison on several occasions for lack of evidence, but was re-arrested each time by the police for additional charges. Rubén was later extradited to the United States on 21 February 2020 and was later convicted by a Washington D.C.-based federal jury on various murder, drug trafficking and firearm charges in September 2024.

Mexican authorities suspected in 2016 that Omar Eleazar Oseguera Cervantes was part of the CJNG leadership structure. Though he has the same last names as El Mencho, he was listed as being his nephew and not as one of his brothers. He reportedly works as one of his top security chiefs.] El Mencho's brother-in-law Elvis González Valencia was arrested in 2016 as well. He had served as the CJNG's lead financier. He was later released in December 2016.

In May 2018, El Mencho's wife Rosalinda was arrested on money laundering charges. Rosalinda was later released after being granted a bail of MX$1.5 million (US$78,000) in September 2018, but remains criminally charged and will still face trial.

In April 2019, El Mencho's godson Adrián Alonso Guerrero Covarrubias was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and kidnapping. Guerrero served as El Mencho's regional head in the Ciénega and northern Los Altos regions in Jalisco, along with southeastern Guanajuato.

In February 2020, El Mencho's daughter Jessica Johana, 33, known as "La Negra", was arrested in Washington D.C. when she went to see her brother Rubén who was extradited in the US for drug trafficking. She was charged with engaging in transactions or dealings in properties with businesses blacklisted by the Treasury Department and providing financial support to the CJNG. She pleaded guilty on 12 March 2021, and on 11 June was sentenced to 2½ years in prison. In April 2022, Jessica Johanna Oseguera González was released from prison.

In November 2021, Rosalinda, known as "La Jefa," was arrested in Zapopan, Jalisco. At the time of this arrest, El Mencho's wife was found to be financial chief of the CJNG.

In December 2022, El Mencho's brother Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Tony Montana," was arrested during an army raid in Guadalajara. Authorities have stated that he was a logistics operator of the CJNG, supplying weapons, laundering money, and coordinating actions against other cartels. During his arrest, the army confiscated multiple weapons. On 27 February 2025, Antonio was extradited from Mexico to the United States.

In November 2024, El Mencho's son-in-law Cristian Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa, a high-ranking CJNG leader who notably faked his death and took up residency in California under an assumed identity, was arrested in Riverside, California. Gutiérrez Ochoa was previously reported to be the romantic partner of El Mencho's daughter Laisha in April 2022. El Mencho assisted the scheme to fake Gutiérrez Ochoa's death by falsely telling associates that he killed his son-in-law for lying. The scheme to fake Gutiérrez's death occurred after he was charged with a 2021 kidnapping of two Mexican Navy members. However, the charges for which Gutiérrez was arrested for in California involved drug trafficking and money laundering. The U.S. Department of Justice also stated that Laisha had been living with Gutiérrez in the United States, and had even been living in the country just prior to his arrival from Mexico after he faked his death. According to the Justice Department, Gutiérrez fled Mexico in part to join El Mencho's daughter in the United States.

On 20 June 2025, Gutiérrez Ochoa, also known as "El Gaucho," pled guilty in the United States to one count of international money laundering conspiracy, with the charge resulting in him facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. In his guilty plea, El Gaucho admitted to being vital to CJNG's money laundering operation, especially from at least 2023 up to his arrest in 2024, using sophisticated money laundering methods involving real estate transactions, shell companies, and international money transfers in order to launder CJNG’s drug trafficking proceeds.

On 28 February 2025, El Mencho's older brother Abraham, also known "Don Rodo", was recaptured by Mexican authorities. Regarded as a founder of CJNG, Don Rodo was vital to the cartel's money laundering and property purchasing operations, reportedly also working alongside CJNG notary public offices in Ciudad Guzmán and Autlán de Navarro to manage changes of ownership of the properties he purchased for El Mencho. The arrest came a year after Don Rodo was briefly imprisoned for nine days after being arrested in April 2024.

Health

In 2020, it was reported that El Mencho suffered from kidney disease and had built a hospital in the village of El Alcíhuatl to help treat it. In 2022, Insight Crime reported that El Mencho had in fact not been seen for years amid concerns about his poor health.

Death

On 22 February 2026, Oseguera was taken into custody by the Mexican Army in a security operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, but died of injuries suffered in the firefight during his transfer to Mexico City.

The operation sparked clashes in the area, resulting in multiple vehicles being set on fire throughout Jalisco. The police said shootouts and explosions were reported during the clashes. The number of casualties is currently unknown.[124] An active shooter situation was reported outside the main terminals and potentially within the concourse at Guadalajara International Airport in Guadalajara. Criminal groups blocked roads with burning vehicles in Jalisco and in the states of Guanajuato, Nayarit, Michoacán and Tamaulipas.