Death Of Cartel Leader El Mencho Sparks Violence And Destruction Across Mexico

The Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful cartel leader and one of the United States’ most wanted fugitives. El Mencho, as he’s known, is dead. While it’s a victory for law enforcement, cartel members have responded with a wave of violence across Mexico. Here’s what’s going down in the aftermath of Mencho’s death, per the Associated Press.

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El Mencho Dies During Attempted Arrest, Cartels Unleash Violence

Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho, was killed during an attempt to capture him. Meanwhile, his followers attempted to fight off Mexican troops. Mexico’s Defense Secretary, Ricardo Trevilla, said Monday that the army and National Guard launched an operation in the southern part of Jalisco state to capture El Mencho. Mexican air force and special forces were also involved. Intelligence gathered about one of Mencho’s romantic partners led them to his hideout, he said.

The cartel counterattacked. In the confrontation, federal forces killed eight members of the criminal group. El Mencho and two of his bodyguards were wounded and died later during transfer by air to Mexico City, Trevilla said. Officials seized rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying armored vehicles at the scene.

The killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes during an attempt to capture him in Jalisco state was a high-profile blow against cartels. The highest since the recapture of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán a decade ago.

After El Mencho died, security forces were placed on alert throughout the country as gunmen unleashed violence. Cartels torched cars, blocking roads in 20 Mexican states. People locked themselves in their homes in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and Jalisco’s capital. Also, school was canceled on Monday in several states.

Who Was El Mencho?

Oseguera Cervantes, better known as ‘El Mencho,’ was 59 years old and originally from the western state of Michoacan. His ties to organized crime went back at least 30 years. In 1994, he was tried for trafficking heroin in the U.S. He spent three years in prison. After returning to Mexico, he quickly rose through Mexico’s drug trafficking underworld.

Around 2009, El Mencho founded the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. It became Mexico’s fastest-growing criminal organization and moved cocaine, methamphetamines, fentanyl and migrants to the United States. The cartel recruited aggressively, experimenting with new ways to reach potential members online. It also made money through fuel theft, extortion and timeshare fraud.

Ultimately, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel earned a reputation for attacks on Mexican security forces, including downing a military helicopter in Jalisco in 2015. Mencho’s cartel also attempted a spectacular, but unsuccessful, assassination of Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch. Harfuch is now Mexico’s federal security secretary.

It’s not clear who will succeed El Mencho, or if any one person can. The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico’s 32 states and is active in almost all of the United States, according to the U.S. DEA. But it is also a global organization.

What Happens Now?

The killing could give Mexico a leg up in its dealings with the Trump administration. The president has been threatening tariffs or military action if Mexico does not show results in the fight against the cartels.

El Mencho was facing multiple indictments in the United States and the U.S. State Department had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest. The Trump administration designated his cartel a terrorist organization a year ago.

The greatest fear would be that the cartel turns to indiscriminate violence. They could decide to:

“launch narcoterrorism attacks … and generate a scenario similar to what Colombia lived in the 1990s,” a full-on attack against the government “car bombs, assassinations and attacks on aircraft.”

Associated Press writer María Verza contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.