Mexico’s most notorious cartel boss was located and killed after intelligence agencies were able to track down one of his lovers to his secluded resort compound, officials said Monday.
Mexico’s Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said agents identified a man close to a girlfriend of New Generation Jalisco Cartel boss Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes prior to Sunday’s raid.
The intelligence officers found that the woman was taken to Tapalpa, a mountainside getaway community in Jalisco where Oseguera and his men were located, Trevilla told reporters.
Officials reveal El Mencho was located and killed after they followed one of his mistresses. U.S. Department of State
One of Mexico’s most notorious drug bosses, El Mencho, was located and killed by the Mexican military. U.S. Department of State
While the girlfriend eventually left the resort, El Mencho and his men remained holed up in the compound when the Mexican military deployed its special forces to take them out.
Once the troops got inside the Oseguera’s compound, heavily armed men fired at the soldiers, leading to a gunfight and chase in the woods near the resort that resulted in the death of four cartel members.
Three others were critically injured and died while being transported to a hospital in Mexico City, including Oseguera.
Officials did not name the girlfriend nor the man who helped lead them to the doorsteps of the king of Mexico’s underworld.
Members of the special units of the national guard patrol after the cartel boss was killed. ZUMAPRESS.com
Oseguera was married to Rosalinda González Valencia before their split in 2018, with the ex-wife released from prison last year after serving two years for a money laundering conviction.
Trevilla hailed the successful operation that saw Mexico roll out its army, air force and an elite national-guard unit trained to specifically fight cartels.
El Mencho was killed by Mexican authorities over the weekend. U.S. Department of State
“The intelligence process is very complex,” Trevilla said of the time and resources it took to mount the raid.
While Mexico’s military planned and led the operation, the newly formed US Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel provided intelligence for the raid.
El Mencho in an undated photo used by federal prosecutors. U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
There was a $15,000,000 reward for information leading to “El Mencho’s” arrest. U.S. Department of State
El Mencho’s killing triggered cartels to wage a violent revolt across several states in Mexico, with Trevilla lamenting that 25 National Guard members were killed as of Monday.
Mexico Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said the narco gangs waged “27 cowardly attacks against authorities in Jalisco,” adding that 30 cartel members were also killed in the violence.