The leader of the notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, was killed Sunday during a Mexican military raid. The 59-year-old cartel boss was one of the most wanted criminals in both Mexico and the US, with a $15 million bounty from the US State Department.
The clash took place in Tapalpa, a municipality in his home state of Jalisco. Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro confirmed that Oseguera Cervantes, co-founder and leader of the cartel, was among seven people killed in the operation.
Puerto Vallarta, a major resort city on Jalisco’s coast, erupted into chaos as cartel members set fires in the streets to slow the advancing soldiers. Attacks were also reported in Michoacán, Tamaulipas, Colima, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, and Veracruz, according to Spanish-language outlet Milenio.
Under Oseguera Cervantes’ leadership, the CJNG was accused of extreme violence, including decapitations, acid baths, and even cannibalism. He rose from humble beginnings in Michoacán, where he dropped out of school to help his farming family, to become one of Mexico’s most feared criminals.
As a teenager, Oseguera Cervantes entered the US illegally and began small-scale drug dealings in San Francisco. He was deported three times, the last following a heroin deal with his older brother that landed him four years in federal prison. By that time, he already had two US-born children.
Back in Mexico, he joined the police in Tomatlán before entering organized crime with the Milenio Cartel. There, he married into a family that operated a powerful cartel branch known as Los Cuinis, which helped fund his rise. He became a lead enforcer and earned the nickname “Los Matazetas” for his brutal attacks against the rival Los Zetas cartel.
After a bloody internal coup in 2011, Oseguera Cervantes and his allies rebranded as the CJNG and Los Cuinis, quickly expanding their operations across Mexico and into the US. By 2019, the cartel was responsible for at least a third of drugs entering the US.
The CJNG recruited hundreds, including children as young as 12, and trained them in paramilitary camps. Those who tried to escape were reportedly tortured or killed by fellow recruits, according to US authorities.
Oseguera Cervantes survived previous military raids in 2012 and 2018. His family remains deeply involved in the cartel world. His son Rubén Oseguera González is serving a life sentence for drug trafficking, while his eldest daughter Jessica Johanna Oseguera González served a 30-month sentence for financial dealings with traffickers. His brother Antonio was arrested in California in 2022, and his brother-in-law José González Valencia received a 30-year sentence in 2025.
Oseguera Cervantes himself faced multiple indictments in Washington, DC, including a 2022 charge for conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances for illegal importation into the US.