NEED TO KNOW

• Mexican special forces killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes in a raid aided by US intelligence
• Retaliatory violence killed 25 National Guard members across six attacks in Jalisco and triggered 250+ roadblocks across 20 states
• Security experts warn the kingpin strategy has historically produced power vacuums and escalating violence rather than lasting stability

GUADALAJARA, MX (TDR) — Mexican special forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and one of the world’s most wanted drug traffickers, during a military raid Sunday in the town of Tapalpa, Jalisco. He was 59 years old and carried a $15 million US bounty on his head.

The operation — Mexico’s most significant cartel leadership takedown in years — triggered a wave of retaliatory violence that left at least 73 people dead, including 25 National Guard members killed in six separate attacks across Jalisco. Cartel operatives erected more than 250 roadblocks across 20 states, torched vehicles and businesses and turned Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and a 2026 World Cup host city, into a ghost town.

How The Operation Unfolded

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Mexico Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo — who broke down in tears during Monday’s press conference while offering condolences to families of fallen troops — revealed that the operation began with a romantic partner of one of El Mencho’s most trusted associates.

On Feb. 20, intelligence led to the woman, who was transported to a cabin complex on the outskirts of Tapalpa where she met with the cartel boss. When she left the property the following day, Mexican military intelligence confirmed El Mencho remained inside with his security detail.

Mexico’s Air Force and the National Guard’s Special Immediate Reaction Force designed the operation quickly to avoid losing the target. When troops moved in, El Mencho’s security opened fire. Four cartel members were killed at the scene. El Mencho and two bodyguards were wounded and died while being airlifted to Mexico City.

The military also killed another high-ranking CJNG financial operator in a separate location in El Grullo, Jalisco — a figure who had been offering more than $1,000 for every soldier killed. In total, some 30 cartel suspects were killed across Jalisco and four more in neighboring Michoacán.

The US Role: Intelligence Without Boots

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The Trump administration moved quickly to claim a piece of the victory. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on X that the US provided intelligence support for the operation.

Reuters reported that the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, a new multi-agency task force formally launched last month under US Northern Command, played a direct role. The task force applies counterterrorism network-mapping techniques — developed against al-Qaeda and ISIS — to cartel operations on both sides of the border.

A former US official told Reuters that American agencies had provided Mexico with a detailed target dossier on El Mencho compiled from law enforcement and intelligence sources. But both governments stressed that Mexico designed, planned and executed the raid with no US military personnel on the ground.

“There was no participation in this operation of US forces. What there was, was an exchange of information.” — Claudia Sheinbaum

“Under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.” — Ron Johnson, US Ambassador to Mexico

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called El Mencho’s death a great development but acknowledged watching the ensuing violence with concern.

“I’m watching the scenes of violence from Mexico with great sadness and concern. It’s not surprising that the bad guys are responding with terror. But we must never lose our nerve.” — Christopher Landau

The Human Cost: Civilians Caught In Between

While Washington and Mexico City traded congratulations, ordinary Mexicans experienced a different reality.

In Guadalajara, the streets emptied Sunday night as armed cartel operatives blocked highways with burning vehicles and deployed tire-puncture strips across roads. At one Guadalajara zoo, hundreds of families — including children and senior citizens — were trapped overnight as zoo director Luis Soto Rendón decided keeping them inside was safer than sending them home to nearby states.

In Puerto Vallarta, the Pacific resort town popular with American tourists, smoke billowed above beachfront hotels as cartel members torched businesses and blocked roads. The US Embassy ordered personnel in eight cities to shelter in place and warned American citizens to do the same.

Maria Medina, a gas station worker whose workplace was set ablaze, described the terror to AFP.

“I thought they were going to kidnap us. I ran to a taco stand to take cover with the people there.” — Maria Medina, gas station worker in Guadalajara

Several Mexican states canceled school Monday. Multiple US and Canadian airlines — including United, American, Southwest, Delta, Alaska, Air Canada and WestJet — canceled flights to Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara and Manzanillo. Some planes already en route turned back mid-flight.

The Kingpin Debate: Tactical Win Or Strategic Dead End?

El Mencho’s killing hands both Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump a political trophy. But security analysts are deeply divided over whether it will produce lasting results — or repeat a decades-old pattern.

Sheinbaum herself has previously criticized the “kingpin strategy” of earlier Mexican administrations, arguing that taking out cartel leaders only triggered explosions of violence as organizations fractured. She is now defending essentially the same approach.

The historical record gives skeptics plenty of ammunition. The killing of Pablo Escobar in 1993 didn’t end Colombian cocaine production. The extradition of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán didn’t weaken the Sinaloa Cartel — and the capture of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in 2024 set off a violent internal war that continues today.

Ford Maldonado, a security analyst who spoke to Fox News, drew the distinction between tactics and strategy.

“Tactical wins aren’t enough anymore. If they were, the long list of past arrests and extraditions would have solved this already. I believe Washington is looking for something deeper now: the disruption of the ecosystem that allows cartel power to thrive.” — Ford Maldonado

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) framed the operation as validation of Trump’s pressure campaign on Mexico.

“Mexico has pivoted sharply, and this is a real manifestation of that. Thousands of Americans are alive today because Trump was re-elected.” — Ted Cruz

David Mora of the International Crisis Group warned the operation could trigger exactly the kind of territorial war that followed previous kingpin removals.

“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity to expand control.” — David Mora, International Crisis Group

Former DEA agent Mike Vigil, speaking to Al Jazeera, pointed to the blind spot in the US approach: the demand side. Hundreds of thousands of weapons flow from the US into Mexico annually, yet there has been no comparable effort to curb those exports or reduce domestic drug consumption.

“If there is no demand or consumption, there’s not gonna be any cartels. It is a big problem.” — Mike Vigil, former DEA agent

What The CJNG Becomes Next

Under El Mencho, the CJNG grew from a Sinaloa Cartel offshoot into what the FBI considers Mexico’s most powerful trafficking organization, responsible for the bulk of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine entering the United States. The Trump administration designated it a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025.

The cartel pioneered the use of explosive drones against military targets, deployed land mines, shot down military helicopters and carried out a brazen assassination attempt on Mexico City’s police chief in 2020.

Who controls CJNG now — or whether it splinters into warring factions — will shape drug trafficking across the Western Hemisphere for years. Mexico has deployed an additional 2,500 troops to reinforce the 7,000 already stationed in Jalisco. President Sheinbaum urged calm Monday and said all roadblocks had been cleared.

Cindy Demaio, whose daughter Rachel died from fentanyl poisoning in 2016, captured the emotional complexity many American families feel about the operation.

“I think Trump uses fentanyl to get what he wants. He has helped to stop the stigma and educate our country. But I think Trump uses fentanyl to get what he wants.” — Cindy Demaio, mother of fentanyl victim

If the kingpin strategy has failed to reduce drug trafficking after Escobar, El Chapo and El Mayo, what evidence would prove this time is different — and who pays the price while we wait to find out?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from CBS News, NPR, CNN, NBC News, Axios, Reuters, Fox News, TIME, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, RTE, Military.com, NewsNation, and TRT World.

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