Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes (17 July 1966 – 22 February 2026), commonly referred to by his alias "El Mencho", 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.

Oseguera Cervantes was wanted for drug trafficking, organized crime involvement, and illegal 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 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 a rural area of Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, or Colima, and that he was guarded by mercenaries with military training.

On 22 February 2026, Oseguera was seriously injured during a Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, and died en route to Mexico City from his gunshot wounds. The operation, aided by U.S. intelligence, triggered widespread retaliatory violence by the CJNG, including road blockades, vehicle fires, and clashes that killed at least 25 National Guard members.

Early life

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was born on 17 July 1966 in the rural community of Culotitlán in Aguililla, Michoacán. His first name was cited as "Rubén" and/or "Nemesio". He had alternative aliases such as "Nemecio", "Rubén Acerguera Cervantes", "Lorenzo Mendoza", and "Nemesio Oseguera Ramos". Some sources state that his birth-given name was Rubén but that he changed it to Nemesio in memory of his godfather. He was widely known by his alias "El Mencho", a nickname that derives from Nemesio. Another nickname was "The Lord of the Roosters", said to be derived from his love for cockfighting.

El Mencho grew up in a poor family that cultivated avocados. He had five brothers: Juan, Miguel, Antonio, Marín, and Abraham. He dropped out of primary school in fifth grade to work in the fields. At the age of 14 he started guarding marijuana plantations. A few years later, he decided he wanted a better life for himself and immigrated illegally to the U.S. state of California in the 1980s. To conceal his identity in the U.S., he used different names and combinations, such as "Rubén Ávila", "José López Prieto", "Miguel Valadez", "Carlos Hernández Mendoza", and "Roberto Salgado", among others.

Time in the U.S.

In 1986, he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was arrested by the San Francisco Police at the age of 19 for stolen property and carrying a loaded gun. Two months after his arrest, his first child was born. According to border entry records, El Mencho crossed the U.S.–Mexico border several times during the late 1980s under other aliases. The DEA and Mexican investigators believe that it was during this time that he became involved in methamphetamine production and trade in Redwood City, alongside his brother-in-law Abigael González Valencia (alias "El Cuini").

In 1989, El Mencho was arrested again in San Francisco for selling narcotics. He was deported to Mexico several months later, but re-entered the U.S. and resettled in San Francisco. In September 1992, he was arrested again, this time on federal drug charges in Sacramento, California. According to court records, El Mencho and his brother Abraham were at a San Francisco bar known as the Imperial to carry out a heroin deal: five ounces for US$9,500. Abraham was in charge of the transaction, while El Mencho acted as a lookout. El Mencho was 26 years old at that time, much younger than Abraham, but was savvy enough to recognize that the transaction was a set-up by the police. He told his brother that the men to whom they gave the heroin handed over perfectly stacked dollar bills instead of loose ones. Through a wiretap conversation, the police overheard El Mencho warning his brother to never do business with them again since they were undercover cops.

Arrest and deportation

Three weeks after the incident both men were arrested by the police. In court, El Mencho insisted that he was innocent. He said he was not involved in the heroin deal and that the undercover agents were lying about him handling the drugs. The prosecution insisted that both siblings were working together. El Mencho was left with few options; if he pleaded not guilty, his brother Abraham—who already had felony drug sentences in his record—would probably face life in prison. His defense understood that if he decided on a jury trial, he would likely be convicted. He decided to plead guilty and protect his brother from life imprisonment. He was sentenced to five years and imprisoned at the Big Spring Correctional Center in Texas, which houses a large population of illegal immigrants.

After three years he was released from prison on parole and deported to Mexico at the age of 30. In Mexico, he joined the local police forces of Cabo Corrientes and Tomatlán in the state of Jalisco. After some time he left the police and joined organized crime as a full-time member of the Milenio Cartel. To strengthen his relationship with the Milenio Cartel, El Mencho married one of the clan leader's sisters, Rosalinda González Valencia. It was in this criminal group that El Mencho would become a leading figure in organized crime.

Rise to leadership

In the Milenio Cartel, El Mencho started as a member of the assassin squad that protected the drug lord Armando Valencia Cornelio (alias "El Maradona"). On 12 August 2003, his boss was arrested by Mexican authorities. Around the same time, a rival criminal group known as Los Zetas, with the backing of the Gulf Cartel, carried out an armed offensive against the Milenio Cartel in Michoacán. The attack forced the Valencia family to exile in Jalisco.

El Mencho relocated in the state capital, Guadalajara, with his father-in-law José Luis González Valencia (alias "El Quini") and Román Caballero Valencia. In Jalisco, El Mencho and the Milenio Cartel formed an alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel subgroup headed by Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, a high-ranking drug lord and ally of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Under Coronel, El Mencho and his group managed the Sinaloa Cartel's drug operations, finances, and murder activities in the states of Colima and Jalisco.

On 28 October 2009, the Milenio Cartel's top leader Óscar Orlando Nava Valencia (alias "El Lobo") was arrested. On 6 May 2010, his brother Juan Carlos (alias "El Tigre") was arrested too. Two months later, Coronel was killed in a shootout with the Mexican Army. Following their downfalls, the Milenio Cartel began to rupture and El Mencho tried to take over its leadership structure.

One sect within the Milenio Cartel wanted to appoint as the leader of the group Elpidio Mojarro Ramírez (alias "El Pilo"), who worked closely with Óscar Orlando and Juan Carlos before their arrests. Érick Valencia Salazar, one of the clan members, wanted El Mencho to take command. El Mencho then asked the other Milenio bloc to hand over Gerardo Mendoza (alias "Tecato" and/or "Cochi") for killing a group of men that reported to him in Tecomán, Colima. The other division refused El Mencho's request, prompting an internal war.

The Milenio Cartel split into two. One side was known as La Resistencia (The Resistance), the other was Los Mata Zetas (The Zeta Killers), headed by El Mencho. La Resistencia accused Los Mata Zetas of turning in Óscar Orlando to the authorities. A war ensued, and the two groups fought for the drug smuggling turfs in Jalisco.

To legitimize its presence, El Mencho's group launched a propaganda campaign against its enemies, denouncing extortions done by rival gangs against civilians, businessmen, and government authorities. Los Mata Zetas eventually won the war and consolidated their influence in western Mexico. The group then changed its name to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG).

Leadership tenure

As leader of the CJNG, El Mencho solidified his position and grew his organization through territorial expansion and by corrupting government officials. The CJNG went from being a small, offshoot criminal gang to one of the leading criminal groups in Mexico. Throughout the process, El Mencho established himself as one of Mexico's most-wanted criminals. His rise to fame was due to a number of factors, including the aggressive and sensationalist displays of public violence by the CJNG. The direct attacks of the CJNG against Mexico's security forces earned El Mencho a reputation among authorities as "principal enemy" of the state and as a dangerous criminal. In addition, the fall of Mexico's former top crime bosses cleared the way for El Mencho to gain visibility and status.