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3w ago

Mexico Hands Over 'El Mencho' Body as CJNG Enters Uncertain Succession

Analysts warn the cartel’s franchise model with opaque finances could keep operations intact despite the leader’s killing.

Newspapers hang on display for sale in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, a day after the Mexican army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Jon Orbach)
Soldiers stand guard at the Federal Forensic Service, where the body of cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho," is believed to be held after a military operation in which he was killed in the state of Jalisco, in Mexico City, Mexico, February 25, 2026. REUTERS/Luis Cortes
Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as 'El Mencho,' at an undisclosed location in Michoacan state, Mexico, in July, 2021.
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Overview

  • Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office confirmed genetic testing and released Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes’s body to his family one week after he was mortally wounded by the army in Jalisco.
  • U.S. intelligence helped pinpoint his location, and Washington had posted a reward of up to $15 million, though the raid itself was carried out by Mexican forces.
  • Retaliatory attacks linked to CJNG swept roughly 20 states with more than 70 people killed before authorities cleared most blockades and reinforced deployments.
  • With Rubén Oseguera González (“El Menchito”) imprisoned in the U.S., attention has turned to lieutenants such as Juan Carlos Valencia González (“El 03”), Audias Flores Silva (“El Jardinero”) and Ricardo Ruiz Velasco (“Doble R”), raising the risk of infighting and fragmentation.
  • Experts say CJNG’s diversified revenue streams and investments in legal sectors like avocados, citrus and mining, supported by complex laundering networks, will complicate efforts to seize assets and limit the impact of a leader’s removal.