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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Staff and agencies

Who was El Mencho, the former police officer who co-founded an ultraviolent cartel in Mexico?

A poster searching for El Mencho
The cartel boss Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was killed by Mexican security forces on Sunday. Photograph: DEA

The drug lord “El Mencho”, who was killed on Sunday by Mexican special forces, was the co-founder and leader of a gang that in recent years had become the country’s most powerful criminal organisation: the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

While less internationally famous than the Sinaloa cartel of the now imprisoned Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the CJNG is a household name in Mexico, where it is known for its displays of ultraviolence and its big, military-style arsenal.

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