Obtained by NCS
Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the highly effective and long-pursued head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and one of many world’s most-wanted traffickers, died following a Mexican military operation on Sunday, handing the nation a consequential victory as it appears to be like to present tangible outcomes to the Trump administration.
Oseguera, a former police officer, led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, as it turned one of many “most powerful and ruthless criminal organizations” inside Mexico, in accordance to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Police officers patrol Benito Juarez International Airport following roadblocks and arson assaults after a military operation in Jalisco state, in Mexico City, Mexico, on February 22, 2026. – Luis Cortes/Reuters
Violence erupted in a number of states in Mexico after safety forces from a number of federal branches of Mexico’s military carried out the operation in the city of Tapalpa in the western state of Jalisco. Officials stated suspected members of organized crime unleashed a wave of violence following the operation, torching buses and companies whereas clashing with safety forces.
The US State Department urged American nationals in elements of Mexico to “seek shelter and remain in residences or hotels” till additional discover.
Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense stated that US authorities supplied “complementary information” that supported the operation. A US protection official confirmed that an interagency US activity drive “played a role” in the operation. However, the exact function that the US performed remains to be unclear.
A view of the within of a gymnasium by way of a gap in a window at a shopping mall in Guadalajara, Mexico, on February 22, 2026. – Carlos Zepeda/Getty Images
Since its establishment in January, the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel has usually labored with the Mexican military by way of US Northern Command to fight cartel operations alongside the US-Mexico border, the US official stated.
“However, I want to emphasize that this was a (Mexican military) operation, so the success is theirs,” the official famous.
During the raid, CJNG members traded hearth with the federal government forces, ensuing in 4 gang members being killed on the scene, the protection ministry stated.
Osegeura and two others had been critically injured and died as they had been being transported through plane to Mexico City, in accordance to the ministry.
Three Mexican military personnel had been additionally injured in the operation and transferred to a hospital in Mexico City for therapy.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum lauded the work of the businesses concerned in the mission.
Mexico’s varied state governments are working in “full coordination” to tackle the dysfunction, Sheinbaum stated on Sunday, including that “activities are proceeding normally” in a lot of the nation.
“We work every day for the peace, security, justice, and well-being of Mexico,” she stated.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration circulated this needed posted for Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes. – DEA
Flights canceled as chaos erupts throughout Mexico
The military operation triggered a collection of violent occasions throughout the state of Jalisco, which is scheduled to host 4 matches of the 2026 soccer World Cup in June, earlier than spreading to different states such as Michoacán and Guanajuato.
Suspected members of organized crime teams set buses on hearth, blocked roads in the realm, and clashed with authorities, Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro reported.
Video obtained by NCS confirmed a number of fires burning and plumes of smoke rising throughout Puerto Vallarta, a resort city in style with US tourists on Mexico’s west coast.
Police officers safe the realm the place autos had been set on hearth by members of organized crime teams to block a street in Zapopan, Mexico, following a military operation in which Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, generally identified as “El Mencho,” was killed. – Gilberto Gallo/Reuters
As a results of the violence, a number of airways, together with Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and Air Canada, cancelled flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, leaving some tourists quickly stranded.
Footage captured at main airports and verified by NCS confirmed distant smoke and panicked vacationers.
At Guadalajara’s worldwide airport, vacationers took cowl close to a jetway and sprinted by way of the terminal.
Another video confirmed a big group of individuals being escorted by uniformed workers throughout the tarmac of Puerto Vallarta’s principal airport.
Amid the flight cancellations, Mexico’s Federal Civil Aviation Agency reported that the airports of Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and Tepic had resumed regular operations on Sunday afternoon.
During the military operation, Lemus urged residents to stay in their houses and stated that public transportation providers in Jalisco can be suspended “until the situation is under control.”
The governor said that the violence has unfold to not less than 5 states and urged the general public to keep away from touring on highways.
The Michoacán Public Security Secretariat reported that efforts are underway to restore site visitors stream following the street blockades.
Meanwhile, the Guanajuato Security and Peace Secretariat reported fires at pharmacies and comfort shops in completely different elements of the state.
“No injuries have been reported, but there has been property damage,” the assertion added, asserting the deployment of a safety operation in coordination with the Army, the National Guard and municipal police.
Carlos Navarro, 54, a US-Mexico twin citizen, was touring to go to household in a small city in his house state of Jalisco as the operation unfolded.
While ready for a connecting bus in Guadalajara, he was knowledgeable that the service was canceled due to a bus being set on hearth.
Navarro took refuge in a close-by Walmart, the place panicked workers permitted him to keep even as an evacuation was underway.
“You hear about it, but it’s very different to hear it on the news than to experience it firsthand,” he told NCS, “It’s very difficult because it makes you very sad. It makes you very sad because I love my country.”
National Guards take away pedestrians by the General Prosecutor’s headquarters in Mexico City after the loss of life of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes. – Ginette Riquelme/AP
A charred car sits at a broken grocery store in Guadalajara after the loss of life of CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes. – Alejandra Leyva/AP
Most-wanted individual in Mexico
Oseguera labored for CJNG as it splintered off from the Milenio Cartel, ultimately rising by way of the ranks to lead the legal enterprise.
Under his management, CJNG expanded its energy and management in Jalisco and the encircling space.
Mexican authorities lengthy sought to apprehend Oseguera for his involvement in the cartel. In 2018, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office offered 30 million pesos ($1.7 million USD) for info main to his arrest.
Oseguera was additionally needed by US authorities, who provided a bounty of up to $15 million for info main to his arrest.
The US Justice Department charged Oseguera in 2022 with main the trouble to manufacture and distribute fentanyl for importation into the US.
A Justice Department indictment of Oseguera stated his group is lively in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima, and Veracruz, and has a presence elsewhere.
In 2025, Oseguera was sanctioned and categorised as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of State.
In a put up on X, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau described Oseguera’s loss of life as a “great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world.”
He added that he’s watching the chaotic scenes in Mexico “with great sadness and concern.”
A soldier stands guard by a charred car that was set on hearth in Cointzio after the Mexican Army killed cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera. – Armando Solis/AP
Pressure from Trump
Sheinbaum has beforehand solid doubt on the technique of concentrating on cartel kingpins, warning that decapitating legal organizations can fracture them into rival factions and ignite new cycles of violence. Yet safety stays a persistent vulnerability for her administration.
Over the previous yr, Sheinbaum has come underneath intensifying strain from US President Donald Trump, as he threatens military intervention and higher import tariffs if Mexico fails to reveal concrete beneficial properties in curbing drug trafficking.
Shortly after the US seize of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump instructed that he may broaden his military marketing campaign to Mexican drug trafficking teams.
Sheinbaum has rejected the notion of US strikes in Mexico, characterizing them as a violation of Mexico’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Instead, she has pursued a direct strategy to combating organized crime by growing cooperation with US safety companions.
NCS’s Avery Schmitz, Sofía Hanalei Sanchez, Haley Britzky, Christian Sierra, and Jonny Hallam contributed reporting.
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