Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was captured and died on February 22, 2026, after Mexican authorities tracked his romantic partner to a secret meeting spot. He was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and had a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head. El Mencho had risen to power after the arrest of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The operation began on February 20, when military intelligence tracked a trusted courier connected to one of Oseguera Cervantes’s romantic partners. The courier transported the partner to a cabin in Tapalpa, Jalisco, for an overnight meeting with El Mencho. Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo stated, “On February 20, through central military intelligence work, a man of trust of one of El Mencho’s romantic partners was located, who took her to a facility in the town of Tapalpa, Jalisco.”
