Mencho killed in Tapalpa operation that left CJNG members dead and detained

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — known as mencho — was located and wounded in an operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, and died while being transferred to Mexico City, Mexican military, a development that ended more than a decade of evasion by the country’s most wanted man.

Where Mencho was found: Tapalpa, Jalisco

The military located Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes in the municipality of Tapalpa, a mountainous area about 130 kilómetros south of the city of Guadalajara. The 59-year-old cofounder of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) was wounded in the operation and died during an aerial transfer to CDMX.

Operation led by Sedena with air and special-reaction support

The Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) said a comando of Fuerzas Especiales carried out the operation with support from Fuerza Aérea aircraft and the Fuerza Especial de Reacción Inmediata de la Guardia Nacional. Sedena said the group that resisted had armored vehicles and heavy weaponry, including lanzacohetes capable of downing aircraft.

Casualties, arrests and equipment seized

Sedena reported that military personnel were attacked and repelled the aggression. Four integrantes of the CJNG died at the scene. Three other members were gravely wounded and lost their lives during air transport to Mexico City; Nemesio Oseguera was among those wounded and died during the transfer. Two additional CJNG members were detained. The Defense also said three military personnel were seriously injured and were moved to hospitals in Mexico City for urgent care. Authorities seized various armaments and armored vehicles, including rocket launchers described as capable of downing aircraft and destroying armored vehicles.

U. S. cooperation, rewards and designation

Sedena said the operation included "información complementaria" from the United States within a bilateral coordination framework. The U. S. government had offered US$15 millones for Oseguera's capture, while Mexico had set the largest reward in its program at US$1, 75 millones. Karoline Leavitt, a White House spokeswoman, wrote on X that the United States provided intelligence support to the Mexican government to help with the operation and praised the Mexican military for the successful execution of the action. More recently, the Donald Trump administration designated the CJNG as a terrorist organization for being a "cartel despiadado y violento" responsible for trafficking fentanyl, metanfetaminas, cocaine and other illicit drugs to the United States.

Aftermath in the region and security reinforcements

The Defense described a wave of retaliatory violence in western Mexico after the operation, with more than 60 violent incidents including narcobloqueos, burning of vehicles, shootouts and attacks on convenience stores that prompted reinforced federal and state operations. The reaction attributed to cells of the CJNG concentrated first in Jalisco and then spread to Guanajuato and Michoacán. One delicate episode was reported in Lagos de Moreno, where unofficial sources indicated an attack on a Guardia Nacional base. The Defense said elements of the Guardia Nacional and troops from the center of the country and neighboring states were sent to reinforce security in Jalisco.

Why authorities say he evaded capture for years and next steps

Security and military interlocutors described Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes as having built, over more than a decade, a survival system based on constant mobility, strategic hideouts and networks of information that let him evade capture in repeated operations; they said he had been located on more than 20 occasions by federal forces and was described in security circles as a capo "a salto de mata, " forced to change location constantly. The Defense noted that among the wounded who died during transfer was named Rubén 'N' (a) Mencho, and that the corresponding authorities will carry out the forensic identification activities for confirmation. Officials have said forensic work and reinforced security operations in Jalisco and neighboring states will continue as the next steps.