![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\"){kind=logo}
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
\n Published on
\n 24\/02\/2026 – 11:10 GMT+1\n <\/p>\n
Cartel violence triggered by the killing of Mexico’s most powerful drug lord has raised fresh security concerns just months before the country co-hosts the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed on Sunday following a Mexican military operation to capture him.<\/p>\n
Known as “El Mencho”, Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in Tapalpa in Jalisco state, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, and he died while being flown to Mexico City.<\/p>\n
More than 70 people died in the attempt to capture the drug lord and the aftermath, including security forces, cartel members and others, according to authorities. <\/p>\n
Violence has since raged on in Jalisco and several other states across Mexico, with reports of cartel members blocking highways with burning cars and torching businesses.<\/p>\n
In the town of Tapalpa, tucked away in the mountains of Jalisco, shop owner Maria Dolores Aguirre fears that the unrest will deal a blow to her livelihood and affect tourism.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to affect us. It\u2019s collateral damage,\u201d the 50-year-old said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe government is going to have to have a lot of security. The entire world just saw what happened and, of course, people are going to think twice about coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, will host four matches at this summer’s tournament. <\/p>\n
Another five games will take place in Mexico City \u2014 including the opener between Mexico and South Africa on 11 June \u2014 and four in Monterrey.<\/p>\n
In domestic football, four matches \u2014 two in the top flight and two in the second division \u2014 were postponed on Sunday because of the violence.<\/p>\n
Fears of further bloodshed<\/p>\n
Some security analysts have warned that the killing of Oseguera Cervantes could lead to a prolonged period of instability and bloodshed as contenders seek to replace him. <\/p>\n
Yet Javier Eskauriatza, assistant professor of criminal law at the University of Nottingham in England, told the BBC that the cartels have an economic interest in ensuring that the World Cup is peaceful.<\/p>\n
“Yes they pay off politicians and local police forces, but they also buy restaurants and own hotels,” he said. “They are part of the economic system.”<\/p>\n
“It is useful for them if Brits, Americans, and others go to Mexico, spend their money and have a good time.”<\/p>\n
Following the killing of Oseguera Cervantes, airlines including Air Canada, United Airlines, Aeromexico and American Airlines temporarily suspended flights to Puerto Vallarta, a resort town in Jalisco that has been hit hard by cartel reprisals. <\/p>\n
The drug lord’s death came as Mexico has stepped up its offensive against cartels in an effort to meet demands by US President Donald Trump to crack down on criminal groups, threatening to otherwise impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action.<\/p>\n
The White House confirmed that the US provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico\u2019s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries. <\/p>\n
CJNG \u2014 one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico \u2014 is known for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States, as well as staging brazen attacks against Mexican government officials.<\/p>\n
Additional sources \u2022 AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 24\/02\/2026 – 11:10 GMT+1 Cartel violence triggered by the killing of Mexico’s most powerful drug lord…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[154577,19712,4118,85,46,1326,154576,105,101640],"class_list":{"0":"post-307675","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-cartel","9":"tag-fifa","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-mexico","14":"tag-mexico-politics","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-world-cup-2026"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}