February 22 marked President Claudia Sheinbaum’s first strike on a top cartel leader, when elite forces killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel chief Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or El Mencho, at a Tapalpa hideout after two days of tracking.
U.S.-backed intelligence helped locate him, letting Sheinbaum show Mexico could hit a high-value target without U.S. troops on its soil even as Donald Trump pressed for a tougher anti-cartel campaign.
More than 20 states then saw arson attacks and road blockades as the cartel retaliated; dozens of troops and suspects were killed in ensuing clashes, along with one bystander.
Journalists later found payroll records, expense reports and notes at the abandoned site pointing to the cartel’s finances and links to local governments, but prosecutors said the unsecured scene left that material unusable in court.
The episode captures Sheinbaum’s broader dilemma: her militarized push has included 160,000 troops, 50,000 arrests and a claimed 41% drop in daily murders, yet lasting gains depend on dismantling cartel political and financial networks.
With crucial evidence lost, can Mexico's new war on cartels ever truly defeat their deep-rooted political and financial power?
El Mencho is dead, but did Mexico just unleash a more violent and fragmented cartel war on its own streets?
After El Mencho: The Death of CJNG’s Leader and the Violent Power Struggle Reshaping Mexico’s Security Crisis
Overview
In February 2026, Mexican authorities launched a major operation in Tapalpa after receiving key intelligence about Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho. Acting quickly, special forces surrounded his hideout, leading to intense firefights as cartel gunmen resisted. El Mencho and his close associates tried to escape but were found after a second clash. He was captured wounded and died while being transported. This decisive raid triggered immediate and widespread violence from the CJNG, highlighting the cartel’s power and the urgent challenges facing Mexico’s security forces in restoring order.