{"id":441500,"date":"2026-02-23T17:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T17:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441500\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T17:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T17:07:07","slug":"killing-of-mexican-drug-cartel-boss-el-mencho-triggers-wave-of-violence-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/441500\/","title":{"rendered":"Killing of Mexican drug cartel boss \u2018El Mencho\u2019 triggers wave of violence | Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whole areas of western Mexico<\/a> have been all but shut down after a surge in cartel violence sparked by a military raid that killed one of the world\u2019s most wanted drug traffickers, known as \u201cEl Mencho\u201d.<\/p>\n

Schools were closed in several Mexican states, and foreign governments warned their citizens to stay inside after the drug lord, whose real name is Nemesio Rub\u00e9n Oseguera Cervantes<\/a>, was declared dead on Sunday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 59-year-old cartel leader was killed during a shootout after the Mexican military attempted to capture him in a raid supported by intelligence from Washington. The US has been pushing its southern neighbour to take more aggressive action against groups trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.<\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s defence minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said authorities ascertained vita information on El Mencho\u2019s whereabouts after a visit by a romantic partner.<\/p>\n

New details of what appeared on Monday of what appeared to be an fierce firefight. Mexico\u2019s security minister Garcia Harfuch saying 25 members of the national guard had died since the operation to capture El Mencho.<\/p>\n

The operation immediately set off a wave of violence, with gunmen blocking major roads, torching cars and buses and fighting with government forces. There were attacks in 20 of Mexico\u2019s 31 states, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Map showing where Nemesio Rub\u00e9n Oseguera Cervantes was killed<\/a><\/p>\n

La Jornada, a Mexican newspaper, reported that at least 26 people had been killed in the unrest, which was centred in the western state of Jalisco, including a pregnant woman reportedly caught in a shootout between troops and cartel fighters.<\/p>\n

The newspaper said the victims included 17 members of the state and federal security forces and eight members of El Mencho\u2019s syndicate, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which has become Mexico\u2019s most powerful and notorious criminal organisation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the chaos spread, the Jalisco governor, Pablo Lemus Navarro, urged the state\u2019s 8 million citizens to stay at home. Lemus said public transport services were being suspended.<\/p>\n

Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico\u2019s second-largest city, was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home. Armed men were seen torching vehicles<\/a> in the heart of Guadalajara, which is scheduled to be one of the 2026 World Cup host cities.<\/p>\n

Other video footage showed tourists on the beach as huge clouds of smoke rose into the skies above Puerto Vallarta, a popular resort city on the west coast known for its spectacular Pacific beaches. Most flights into the city were suspended and international airlines cancelled dozens of trips.<\/p>\n

Authorities there had issued a public advisory to stay indoors, and routes to airports may be blocked, the UK Foreign Office said in a travel advisory on Monday. The US embassy in Mexico City also issued a security alert<\/a>, urging citizens to \u201cshelter in place\u201d in affected regions.<\/p>\n

The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum<\/a>, has called for calm, and said on Monday that all the roadblocks had been cleared.<\/p>\n

While less internationally famous than the Sinaloa cartel of the now imprisoned Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n, the Jalisco group is a household name in Mexico<\/a>, where it is infamous for its displays of ultraviolence and its massive weapon arsenal, which it has shown off in military parades<\/a>. The cartel, which was founded about 16 years ago, has also been accused of attempting to assassinate Mexican government officials.<\/p>\n

The exact circumstances of El Mencho\u2019s killing remained unclear. Mexico\u2019s defence ministry said special forces troops from the army and national guard had launched an operation in Tapalpa, a town about 80 miles south-west of Guadalajara, to capture him.<\/p>\n

While doing so, however, \u201cmilitary personnel came under attack\u201d and fought back. El Mencho was wounded in a shootout and died while being airlifted to Mexico City. Six of his accomplices were killed, and two alleged cartel members were arrested with weapons that included rocket launchers.<\/p>\n

Washington had offered a $15m (\u00a311m) reward for his capture, and the White House confirmed that the US provided intelligence support to the operation. Senior US officials celebrated the killing, which follows months of pressure from Donald Trump<\/a> over the influx of drugs and migrants across the 1,954-mile (3,145km) border between the two countries. The Trump administration has designated the Jalisco cartel as a \u201cforeign terrorist organisation\u201d, and the US president has even threatened direct military action against cartels that he has claimed \u201care running Mexico\u201d.<\/p>\n

Writing on X, Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, called El Mencho \u201cone of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins\u201d. He posted: \u201cThis is a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

People are being advised to stay indoors, while international flights have been suspended. Photograph: Gerardo Vieyra\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

While the killing may relieve pressure on President Sheinbaum from Trump, it will also create a cartel power vacuum. Sheinbaum has previously criticised the discredited \u201cwar on drugs\u201d strategy, in which military action often triggers major violence only for new cartel leaders to emerge.<\/p>\n

Chris Dalby, an organised crime expert who has written a book about the Jalisco cartel, said one of the biggest questions now facing Mexico was who \u2013 if anyone \u2013 would fill the dead criminal\u2019s boots.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf no one can, if the CJNG finally splinters, you have four or five different lieutenants with the manpower, the weaponry and the criminal empires to build their own fiefdoms \u2013 and that could plunge Mexico into almost record levels of violence,\u201d Dalby said.<\/p>\n

Some sources have cited El Mencho\u2019s stepson, Juan Carlos, as a possible successor with enough backing to hold the cartel together. \u201cIf [he] can unite the CJNG we may avoid that kind of civil war,\u201d Dalby said, although he said he believed that was far from guaranteed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whole areas of western Mexico have been all but shut down after a surge in cartel violence sparked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-441500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}