{"id":24466,"date":"2026-02-23T18:32:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=24466"},"modified":"2026-02-23T18:32:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:32:56","slug":"mexican-drug-cartel-boss-el-mencho-tracked-through-romantic-partner-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=24466","title":{"rendered":"Mexican drug cartel boss \u2018El Mencho\u2019 tracked through romantic partner | Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mexican authorities tracked down and killed \u201cEl Mencho\u201d, one of the world\u2019s most wanted drug traffickers, by following a romantic partner to his safe house near a picturesque mountain town, the head of the country\u2019s defence secretary has revealed.<\/p>\n

In a press conference on Monday, authorities provided the first details about the operation that led to the death of the leader of Mexico\u2019s most powerful organised crime group, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.<\/p>\n

The raid on Sunday prompted a surge of retaliatory violence by cartel gunmen, which all but shut down entire areas of western Mexico.<\/p>\n

The 59-year-old cartel leader, whose real name is Nemesio Rub\u00e9n Oseguera Cervantes<\/a>, was fatally injured as the Mexican military attempted to capture him in the operation, which was 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

Defence secretary, Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, said that El Mencho\u2019s bodyguards opened fire on the military as it encircled the cabin in a wooded area outside the town of Tapalpa, about 80 miles south-west of Guadalajara.<\/p>\n

The gunfire forced one helicopter into an emergency landing in an echo of a failed 2015 attempt to capture him in which his gunmen brought down a helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.<\/p>\n

Fighting continued as El Mencho fled the cabin into a nearby forest, where he was wounded and captured. He died while being transferred for medical treatment in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

Aside from El Mencho, seven of his men were killed in the firefight, while two soldiers were wounded. Rifles and grenade launchers were seized.<\/p>\n

The operation immediately set off a wave of violence across Mexico, with cartel gunmen blocking almost 100 major roads<\/a>, torching vehicles and lashing out at security forces, especially in the states of Jalisco and Michoac\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

Security minister, Omar Garc\u00eda Harfuch, said that 25 members of the national guard were killed and 14 wounded in those clashes, along with 34 gunmen and one bystander. Another 70 people were arrested across the country.<\/p>\n

Trevilla confirmed that Hugo C\u00e9sar Mac\u00edas Ure\u00f1a, alias \u201cEl Tuli\u201d, a close ally of El Mencho\u2019s who coordinated the rash of violence after his death \u2013 and even offered a bounty for every dead soldier, was also killed in a confrontation.<\/p>\n

By Monday, authorities reported having cleared all blockades across the country. \u201cMexico is at peace, calm, and we are working in all the states,\u201d said Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum.<\/p>\n

However, there were still reports of burning vehicles<\/a> in Michoac\u00e1n, and schools remained closed in many states as a precaution. Some airlines are yet to resume normal service to the cities of Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, both in Jalisco, which took the brunt of the cartel\u2019s fury.<\/p>\n

Stephen Woodman, a security analyst in Guadalajara, said the violence \u201ckicked off pretty immediately\u201d as news broke of the operation on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Claudia Sheinbaum, president Of Mexico, speaks during a press conference following the violence sparked by the death ‘El Mencho’.<\/span> Photograph: Gerardo Vieyra\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c[These groups] have plans in place to coordinate quickly in the event of a major arrest, to cause the maximum amount of trouble,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was quite overwhelming with reports coming in all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sense of panic was compounded by the amount of misinformation, some using AI-generated photos and footage, that swirled around social media. \u201cYou had to question everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Woodman ventured out in the late afternoon, once the initial action seemed to have died down. \u201cIt was eerily quiet: everything shut, no traffic,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there was a very strong smell of smoke in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was an alarming reminder of the cartel\u2019s capacity to instil fear and panic in Mexico\u2019s second-largest city, which is scheduled to be one of the 2026 World Cup host cities.<\/p>\n

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

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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

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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>.<\/p>\n

The cartel, which was founded about 16 years ago, has also been accused of attempting to assassinate Mexican government officials \u2013 including Garc\u00eda Harfuch, whose car was riddled with hundreds of bullets in an upmarket neighbourhood of Mexico City in 2020<\/a>, wounding him and killing two of his bodyguards and a bystander.<\/p>\n

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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

<\/svg><\/span>People were advised to stay indoors, while international flights have been suspended.<\/span> Photograph: Gerardo Vieyra\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\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<\/div>\n

#Mexican #drug #cartel #boss #Mencho #tracked #romantic #partner #Mexico<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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