Mexico Kills ‘El Mencho,’ Head of the Jalisco Cartel
Mexico Kills ‘El Mencho,’ Head of the Jalisco Cartel — Triggering Nationwide Violence and a New Chapter in the Drug War
The military killing of the world’s most wanted drug lord has thrown Mexico into chaos, raised urgent questions about cartel succession, and could reshape the fentanyl crisis fueling overdose deaths in American communities — including right here in the Central Valley.
Summary
On February 22, 2026, the Mexican military killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes (“El Mencho”), the founder and leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) — a designated foreign terrorist organization and one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking empires. The operation, aided by U.S. intelligence, triggered more than 250 roadblocks across 20 Mexican states, the deaths of 25 National Guard members in retaliatory attacks, and the shutdown of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city. CJNG operates in almost all 50 U.S. states and is a primary source of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine reaching California’s Central Valley.
On Sunday, February 22, 2026, the Mexican military killed the most powerful and most wanted drug lord in the Western Hemisphere. Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes — known universally as “El Mencho” — was the founder and supreme leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal empire responsible for flooding American streets with fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. The United States had placed a $15 million bounty on his head.
Within hours of his death, Mexico descended into chaos. CJNG loyalists launched more than 250 roadblocks across 20 of Mexico’s 32 states, torched buses and businesses, and killed at least 25 National Guard members in retaliatory attacks. Guadalajara — Mexico’s second-largest city and a 2026 FIFA World Cup host city — was effectively shut down. Airports closed. Schools canceled. Tourists sheltered in place.
For communities like Lodi and San Joaquin County, where fentanyl-related overdose deaths have become a grim reality, the killing of El Mencho isn’t a distant foreign news story. CJNG operates in almost all 50 U.S. states, and California — particularly the Central Valley — is a primary corridor for the drugs this cartel manufactures and distributes.
CJNG Territory, Operations & February 2026 Violence
Click markers for details on each location. Scroll to zoom.
The Operation That Killed El Mencho
Mexican Army Special Forces, supported by the Air Force and the National Guard’s Immediate Reaction Special Force, descended on the town of Tapalpa in the state of Jalisco — about two hours southwest of Guadalajara. U.S. intelligence agencies provided what Mexico’s defense ministry called “complementary information” that helped pinpoint El Mencho’s location. According to Reuters, it was a visit from a romantic partner that ultimately gave his position away.
The objective was to capture him alive. That didn’t happen. Security forces encountered armed resistance from CJNG fighters, leading to a fierce gunfight. Four cartel members were killed at the scene. El Mencho was critically wounded and evacuated by military helicopter, but he died from his injuries during the flight to Mexico City. Two other wounded cartel members also died in transit. Two more were arrested.
The arsenal seized tells its own story about CJNG’s military-grade capabilities: armored vehicles and rocket launchers capable of downing aircraft and destroying armored vehicles were recovered from the scene.
U.S. Military Role: A U.S. defense official confirmed to CBS News that the U.S. military played a role through the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which works with the Mexican military via U.S. Northern Command. The official emphasized that the success belongs to Mexico’s forces.
Who Was El Mencho?
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes was born on July 17, 1966, in the impoverished rural community of Aguililla, Michoacán. He grew avocados, dropped out of primary school, and eventually crossed illegally into the United States in the 1980s. In 1994, he was convicted in California for conspiracy to distribute heroin and served three years in a U.S. prison.
After deportation, he returned to Mexico and briefly worked as a police officer in Jalisco before resuming criminal activities. He served as a chief enforcer for the Sinaloa Cartel before co-founding CJNG around 2009 with Érick Valencia Salazar following the collapse of the Milenio Cartel. His marriage to Rosalinda González Valencia — sister of a powerful cartel financial operator — was the key that gave him legitimacy and access to the networks he would build into an empire.
Under his leadership, CJNG grew from a regional splinter group into what the DEA considers one of the two most powerful criminal organizations on the planet, rivaling the Sinaloa Cartel. El Mencho was an elusive, almost ghostly figure — only a handful of photographs of him existed. He was reported to suffer from kidney disease and had not been publicly seen for years before his death.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel: A Criminal Superpower
CJNG is not a traditional street gang or even a conventional drug cartel. The DEA describes it as a franchise-based operation composed of approximately 90 affiliated criminal organizations. It has a hierarchical military command structure, deploys armored vehicles, launches explosives from drones, plants land mines, and has shot down military helicopters. In 2020, the cartel attempted to assassinate Mexico City’s police chief using grenades and high-powered rifles in broad daylight in the capital.
The organization operates in at least 21 of Mexico’s 32 states, with strongholds in Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima. Globally, it has established a presence in more than 40 countries.
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | ~2009, from the remnants of the Milenio Cartel |
| U.S. Designation | Foreign Terrorist Organization (February 2025) |
| U.S. Presence | Associates and affiliates in almost all 50 states |
| Mexico Presence | At least 21 of 32 states |
| Global Reach | Operations in 40+ countries |
| Structure | ~90 affiliated organizations in a franchise model |
| Revenue | Billions of dollars annually |
| Primary Drugs | Fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin |
| Other Crimes | Extortion, fuel theft, human trafficking, kidnapping, illegal mining, timeshare fraud |
| Chemical Supply | Precursors imported from China via the Port of Manzanillo |
Drugs Manufactured and Trafficked
The U.S. State Department has assessed that CJNG has the highest cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine trafficking capacity of any cartel in Mexico. In recent years, fentanyl has become the cartel’s most devastating product. CJNG imports chemical precursors from China through the Port of Manzanillo in Colima — Mexico’s largest commercial port, over which the cartel exercises de facto control — and manufactures synthetic drugs in clandestine labs across western Mexico.
El Mencho’s son, Rubén Oseguera-González (“El Menchito”), supervised labs that produced more than 1,000 metric tons of methamphetamine and was one of the earliest architects of the fentanyl pill trade, creating counterfeit oxycodone tablets laced with lethal doses of fentanyl. He was sentenced in March 2025 to life plus 30 years in U.S. federal prison and ordered to forfeit more than $6 billion.
CJNG in the United States
According to the DEA, CJNG associates, facilitators, and affiliates operate in almost all 50 U.S. states. California is a primary entry and distribution point, with the Central Valley serving as a critical transit corridor. The cartel’s money laundering operations utilize Chinese money laundering networks, cryptocurrency, bulk cash smuggling, and trade-based laundering to move billions back to Mexico.
El Mencho’s own son-in-law, Cristian Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa — a high-ranking CJNG leader — was arrested in November 2024 in Riverside, California, where he had been living under an assumed identity after faking his own death.
The Aftermath: Mexico in Crisis
The retaliatory violence was immediate, coordinated, and staggering in scale.
The U.S. State Department has issued shelter-in-place advisories for Americans in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Guerrero, and Nuevo León. Multiple airlines have canceled flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. The situation remains fluid as of Monday, February 23.
Within hours of El Mencho’s death being confirmed, CJNG operatives launched coordinated attacks across the country. More than 250 roadblocks were documented in 20 states. Burning vehicles choked highways. Gas stations were set ablaze. In Guanajuato state alone, more than 70 attacks were reported across 23 municipalities, including 60 arsons. Eighteen Banco del Bienestar bank branches and 69 OXXO convenience stores were damaged or destroyed.
The deadliest toll fell on Mexico’s security forces: 25 National Guard members were killed in six separate retaliatory attacks in Jalisco. A jail guard was killed during a prison riot in Puerto Vallarta. An agent from Jalisco’s state prosecutor’s office was killed in Guadalajara.
The violence reached far beyond CJNG’s western Mexico stronghold. In the Caribbean tourist corridor of Quintana Roo, cars were torched on the highway between Cancún and Puerto Morelos. OXXO stores were set ablaze in Tulum. Vehicles were burned in mall parking lots in Playa del Carmen. The Jalisco governor activated a “Code Red” emergency protocol and suspended all public transportation across the state.
Retaliatory Violence by State — Feb. 22–23, 2026
Dismantling the Family: Key Arrests
El Mencho’s killing is the culmination of years of systematic takedowns of his inner circle. Virtually every member of his family leadership structure is now dead, in prison, or in U.S. custody:
What Comes Next: Succession, Fragmentation, and Risk
The Succession Question
With El Mencho’s son serving life in a U.S. prison, his daughter in custody, his wife arrested, and both brothers either imprisoned or in U.S. hands, the biological family line of succession is effectively broken. Analysts point to El Mencho’s stepson, Juan Carlos González Valencia (“El Pelón”), as the most likely successor. He commands the cartel’s paramilitary wing and was considered El Mencho’s de facto second-in-command by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
But analysts caution that if El Pelón cannot hold the organization together, as many as five or six regional commanders each have the resources to establish their own criminal fiefdoms — a scenario that historically produces more violence, not less.
The Fragmentation Danger
History offers a clear and troubling parallel. When Sinaloa Cartel boss El Chapo was arrested, it eventually triggered a civil war between rival factions that continues to this day. With CJNG structured as a franchise network of roughly 90 organizations, the potential for splintering is enormous. For ordinary Mexicans, cartel fragmentation typically means more extortion, more forced recruitment, and more localized violence as competing cells fight for resources and territory.
Both Major Cartels in Crisis Simultaneously
For the first time, Mexico’s two most powerful cartels are in leadership crises at the same time. The Sinaloa Cartel is locked in an internal war between El Chapo’s sons and the faction loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is in U.S. custody. Now CJNG faces its own succession struggle. This unprecedented dual vacuum creates both enormous risk and a potential strategic opportunity for law enforcement.
Impact on U.S. Drug Markets
In the near term, disruption to CJNG’s supply chain could temporarily reduce fentanyl and methamphetamine availability in some American markets. However, past experience shows that such supply disruptions tend to be short-lived — rival organizations or CJNG’s own semi-autonomous franchise cells fill the gap. A more dangerous scenario is that fragmented CJNG cells, operating without centralized coordination, become more reckless and unpredictable.
FIFA World Cup Security
Guadalajara is scheduled to host multiple matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup beginning in June — just four months away. The ability of Mexican security forces to restore and maintain order in CJNG’s home territory will be an immediate and visible test of the government’s capacity.
CJNG Criminal Revenue Sources
Why This Matters in the Central Valley
The drugs CJNG manufactures and ships do not stay in Mexico. The DEA has documented CJNG distribution networks in almost every U.S. state, and California — particularly the agricultural Central Valley corridor from Bakersfield through Stockton and Sacramento — has long been a primary pathway for cartel narcotics entering American communities.
San Joaquin County has experienced the devastating impact of the fentanyl crisis firsthand, with overdose deaths driven largely by counterfeit pills and powder manufactured in Mexican cartel labs using Chinese-sourced precursors. The drugs that CJNG produces in Jalisco move through smuggling networks, cross the border, and ultimately reach communities like Lodi, Stockton, Manteca, and Tracy.
Whether El Mencho’s death disrupts that pipeline or accelerates the chaos depends on what happens in the coming weeks. Residents should be aware that periods of cartel instability can paradoxically increase drug trafficking activity as competing factions rush to move product and secure revenue streams.
The U.S. State Department is advising Americans in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Guerrero, and Nuevo León to shelter in place. Multiple airlines have suspended flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. If you or someone you know is currently in Mexico, monitor the U.S. Embassy in Mexico alerts and your airline for updates.
Sources & References
- NBC News — Powerful cartel unleashes wave of violence across Mexico after its leader's killing
- NPR — Mexico fears more violence after army kills cartel leader ‘El Mencho’
- CBS News — Violence erupts in Mexico after cartel leader “El Mencho” killed
- CBS News — What does the future hold for the powerful CJNG?
- CNN — Who was El Mencho, the feared cartel leader killed in a military operation?
- Al Jazeera — El Mencho killing sparks ‘overwhelming fear’ as violence erupts
- TIME — What to Know About the Operation to Kill Mexican Drug Lord ‘El Mencho’
- Axios — Mexico killed “El Mencho.” Here’s how and what we know about U.S. role
- PBS News — Mexican army kills Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader ‘El Mencho’
- U.S. DEA — Cartels: Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)
- U.S. Director of National Intelligence / NCTC — CJNG Profile
- Newsweek — Mexico El Mencho Killing: CJNG Cartel Violence Live Updates
- U.S. News — Mexico’s Most-Wanted Cartel Leader Was Killed After Visit From Romantic Partner
- Wikipedia — 2026 Jalisco operation