The famous leader of the cartel

Violence spread across Mexico on Sunday after the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), who had a $15 million bounty on his head, was killed in a military shootout.

A U.S. defense official told News themezone that the U.S. military played a role in the operation to eliminate Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho” – through the Joint Interagency-Countercartel Task Force, which regularly works with the Mexican military through the United States Northern Command. The official emphasized that “this was a Mexican military operation, so success is theirs.”

News of “El Mencho’s” death prompted cartel members across the country to block roads, set vehicles and businesses on fire, and force fearful residents into hiding. Authorities said Monday that 25 members of the National Guard were left dead in Jalisco in six separate attacks.

Here’s a look at the growing power of the CJNG and its future without “El Mencho” at the helm.

What is CJNG?

Oseguera is a founding member of the CJNG, which was formed in 2009 and has become one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico, ahead of the Sinaloa cartel. He helped co-found the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with Érick Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” who was among 29 cartel leaders wanted and taken into U.S. custody last February, according to the Department of Justice.

The U.S. State Department said the cartel has “the largest trafficking capacity for cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine in Mexico” and, in recent years, has begun funneling fentanyl into the United States.

“It is without a doubt one of the most powerful organizations in Mexico in terms of military capacity, recruiting capacity and weapons,” David Mora, an expert at the Crisis Group analysis center, told News.

In addition to drug trafficking, the CJNG operation expanded to other criminal enterprises such as extortion, fuel theft and human trafficking, reported the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The CJNG is characterized by its “constant willingness to challenge the Mexican government,” Mora said.

In a show of power, the cartel frequently posts images of its members displaying weapons and armored vehicles.

In 2020, the cartel was accused of the attempted murder of Mexico’s public security secretary, Omar García Harfuch, who at the time was serving as police chief in the capital.

Last year he was also accused of killing Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzoa well-known crusader against organized crime in Mexico.

Manzo’s death sparked two days of youth-led demonstrations in November, in which protesters set fire to public buildings and clashed with police, leaving more than 100 people injured.

Why did the cartel react so violently?

The reaction that followed Oseguera’s death reflects the cartel’s broad power in Mexico, experts said.

The murder of the powerful drug trafficker unleashed several hours of roadblocks with burned vehicles in Jalisco and other states. The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, acknowledged the road closures on social networks, but stressed that “in the vast majority of the national territory, activities are carried out completely normally.”

Violence gripped the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, the state of Michoacan near the capital, and the states of Puebla, Guanajuato in central Mexico, Sinaloa in the northwest and southern Guerrero.

“What we saw today is just a demonstration of the places where (the cartel) operates and where it can spread violence,” Mora said.

The US State Department issued a security alert warning US citizens in several Mexican states, including Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacán, Guerrero and Nuevo León, to shelter in place until further notice. The State Department of Consular Affairs, in a message asking U.S. citizens to continue sheltering in place, said on social media that taxi and ride-sharing service had been suspended in Puerto Vallarta.

Security analyst Gerardo Rodríguez told News that authorities had anticipated a reaction, but did not expect such a “national reach.”

Oseguera was wounded in a confrontation with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the army said in a statement.

“In operational tactical terms, it is a very successful operation by the government,” Rodríguez said.

What is the future of the poster?

Oseguera is one of the largest Mexican drug traffickers fallen since the capture of the founders of the Sinaloa cartel. Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Both are now serving sentences in the United States.

Oseguera was “the number one priority for the DEA and, frankly, for federal law enforcement in the United States,” Matthew Donahue, the top DEA agent in Mexico, told News themezone in 2019.

Mike Vigil, former head of International Operations for the DEA, told News themezone that the military operation was “one of the most important actions undertaken in the history of drug trafficking.”

“Because we are talking about someone who is almost at the same level as ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán and ‘El Mayo’ Zambada,” he added. “(Oseguera) is one of the biggest drug lords in the history of drug trafficking around the world.”

Meanwhile, Rubén “El Menchito” Oseguera González, 35, Oseguera’s son, was convicted by a federal jury in Washington in September on multiple drug and firearms trafficking charges.

Mora stated that “by not having a direct succession, a power vacuum is created that opens the door to violent realignments within the organization.”

It was the weakening of the Sinaloa cartel, for example, that led to the CJNG’s rise to prominence, experts noted.

The United States has classified the CJNG as a terrorist organization and accuses it of sending cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl to the United States.

It is not clear who will succeed Oseguera Cervantes, nor if anyone can do so.

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. Drug Enforcement Agency. But it is also a global organization and the loss of its leader could be felt far beyond Mexico.

“El Mencho controlled everything, he was like the dictator of a country,” Vigil said.

Their absence could slow the cartel’s rapid growth and expansion and leave it initially weakened against the Sinaloa cartel on several fronts where they or their representatives are fighting. Sinaloa is caught in its own internal power struggle between the children of “El Chapo” and the faction loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is in US custody.

Vigil said Mexico should seize the moment to launch “an effective frontal attack based on intelligence.”

“This is a great opportunity for Mexico and the United States if they work together,” he said.

President Trump on Monday called on Mexico to step up its efforts against drug cartels a day after the military raid.

“Mexico must intensify its efforts against cartels and drugs!” Trump wrote in a social media post.