Abatido 'El Mencho': Programa especial de N+ Univisión sobre la muerte del líder criminal mexicano

It was the slaughter of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the Mencho. In a military operation in Tapalpa, in the state of Jalisco, the death of the founder and leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel triggered an immediate and violent reaction of that criminal group. There were recorded coordinated drug attacks in several states and more than 20 municipalities. El Mencho was considered one of the most wanted and dangerous capos in the world.

The United States accused him of leading a reign of terror and destroying thousands of lives through fentanyl trafficking, and offered up to $15 million for information that would lead to his arrest or conviction. What will be the future of the cartel?

What is now in the to the cartel?

Guess what?

You're in a lucha contra el narcotrafico. Contamos con cobertura en equipo desde distintos puntos de Mexico y desde Washington DC. Noticias NMASU revision presenta.

Abatido el Mencho.

Este es el momento en que habría sido abatido el líder del This is the moment in which the leader of the most powerful cartel in Mexico, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, would have been shot down. The confirmation of his death has detonated an expansive wave of violence that keeps Mexico on high alert. Maximum. El Mencho for capital auto porfas especiales del ejercito Mexicano. So I don't want to say in Las Ultimas Horas que Estados Unidos apoyo con information con inteligencia

e coordinación durante el operativo. Trustworthy reaction is the group also de la delinquency organizada ser registraron in various estados principalmente in Jalisco in Michoacan. of vehicles and confrontations between federal and state authorities that have deployed security operations to try to restore order

on this turbulent Sunday in Mexico.

That's right, Enrique. And we'll go to Mexico City to learn all the details of this operation that ended up with the head of the powerful Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel that transformed the map of global drug trafficking. Arturo Sierra tiene el reporte.

El principal líder del narcotráfico en México, Nemesio Ceguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, fundador y líder máximo del Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, fue abatido por fuerzas federales mexicanas durante un operativo realizado en Tapapalpa, Jalisco, which caused the violent reaction of this criminal group in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Colima, Oaxaca, Nayarit,

Guerrero, Quintana Roo, Veracruz, Querétaro, Puebla and Tamaulipas. The Mexican government, through the Secretariat of Defense, reported that in the operation, four members of the criminal group died in the place and three more were seriously injured, but lost their lives during their flight to Mexico City. Among the latter is Rubén N., alias El Mencho. President Claudia Sheinbaum called for calm in the face of the blockades in various states.

She highlighted that there is absolute coordination and that in most of the national territory activities are carried out in full normality. She recognized the Mexican Army, the National Guard, the Armed Forces and the Security Cabinet for these actions. In Jalisco, blockades and burning of vehicles in Guadalajara, Ocotlan,

the comulco of Zúñiga and Puerto Vallarta.

As soon as we turned around, several cars locked us in. And with a gun in hand, they told us to get out or else it would be worth it. And we didn't turn around, we didn't turn around, and we kept walking here to a safe house, in a house, a room. And from there, another truck arrived and poured gasoline on the vehicle. And at that moment, our vehicle was left.

My wife and I came, and we got very scared.

The classes for this Monday were canceled throughout the state. and Vehicles were set on fire. In Guanajuato, there was a fire of vehicles and shops in five municipalities. In Tamaulipas, there were also various blockades with trucks and tires on the main roads of Reynosa. In Oaxaca, at least six vehicles were set on fire in Juchitán and the Espinal del Istus in Tehuantepec. In Acapulco, Guerrero, incidents were reported that, according to the authorities, were attended to and are under control. In Veracruz, the fire of several cargo vehicles was reported.

In Quintana Roo, vehicle fires were reported on the road that connects Cancun with the town of Leona Vicario in the municipality of Puerto Morelos. In Querétaro, a trailer was set on fire on Federal Highway 57 after an attempt to blockade it. The US Embassy in Mexico issued a security alert and asked citizens of that country who are in the affected areas to protect themselves until further notice. Some commercial airlines canceled their flights at various airports.

To avoid violent events, authorities deployed operatives, in addition to mobilizing to withdraw fire engines that were used to cause blockades. From Mexico City, Arturo Sierra, NMAS Univision. Arturo Sierra with the report. We are now going to Guadalajara, where the governor of Jalisco, Pablo Lemus, announced the activation of the Red Code

in the entire entity. He recommended to the population not to leave their homes until this situation is controlled. Yvonne Alcántara has the details from the capital of Jalisco. Go ahead, Ivonne, good afternoon.

Enrique, how are you? Good afternoon. We are here in the municipality of Guadalajara precisely to show you how this city looks after this confrontation, this burning of vehicles and of course also these blockades and shootings that were recorded in much of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara.

We are talking about more than 20 blockades that were recorded from very early hours in the city, as well as the murder of at least six elements of the National Guard, as well as a woman who was murdered precisely in this exchange of shots. As we can see,, the area remains quite calm due to the total closure of all shops, of all stores in the entire city.

Yes, people have shown concern. What will happen in the next few hours, especially at night? They are afraid, but they will also protect themselves in their homes to prevent any type of incident and above all, avoid this type of blockade that has been registered since very early hours in the city guardaran en sus hogares para prevenir cualquier tipo de incidentes, sobre todo evitar este tipo de bloqueos que se registraron desde muy tempranas horas de la ciudad

y que todavía Jalisco permanece con este código rojo. No hay servicio del transporte público. Las escuelas, todas las clases de las escuelas de todos los niveles fueron suspendidas. Esto una vez que se calme la situación y también una vez que las autoridades puedan determinar que tanto las personas como los estudiantes ya puedan regresar a clases. Once the situation calms down and the authorities can determine that both the people and the students can return to class. This is the panorama that is being experienced, an unusual event that not only shocked the whole country, but also the state of Jalisco. Fear made work. Thank you very much for your report, Ivonne Alcántara from Guadalajara. The life of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was marked by violence and mystery. Guadalajara. Tiffany Roberts tells us how she rose to the top in the world of drug trafficking. Mencho became a young man from a rural community in Michoacan, to become one of the most powerful and sought-after drug traffickers in the world.

He comes from a humble background, he was not born in the narco aristocracy. He rose to the top in the criminal world, unlike the Chapitos or the son of Mario Zamada,

Mencho was made himself.

He was born in Naranjo de Chile, Michoacán, son of peasants who emigrated to California. There he was arrested in 1992 for heroin trafficking and then deported to Mexico. After his return, he worked as a municipal police officer in Cabo Corrientes and Tomatlán, Jalisco.

Then he joined the Millenium Cartel, led by the Valencia family, where he ascended as a hitman and head of security, partly because he married Rosa Linda González, the sister of the cartel leaders.

By becoming the brother-in-law of the leaders of this mini-cartel, he is also invited to be part of the leadership of this organization. And thanks to his talent, ability, intelligence, the intelligence to do the evil that he had, he manages to increase the power of this criminal group.

With Rosalinda González, she had three children. Jessica, the eldest, called the black, joined the family business. to in 2015 and extradited to the United States. In 2025, he was sentenced to life in prison. Laisha is the youngest daughter, who, unlike her brothers, has maintained a low profile, although she has been linked to some operations in Mexico. The brothers of Rosalía, the Mecho's brothers-in-law, formed the Cartel de los Quinis,

a criminal organization of the richest in the world. The Jalisco Cartel was created in 2007 as an armed group under the name of Los Matacetas. The group became independent in 2010 and became known in September 2011, being led by Nemesio Ceguera Cervantes. In fact, a brilliant man who understood that the Sinaloa Cartel would begin a decline after the capture and extradition of Chapo Guzmán to the United States. Just when Chapo was captured and extradited to the United States, the Jalisco Cartel emerged military-grade weapons, including drones equipped with explosives and vehicles armed with handcrafted weapons known as monsters.

With military strategies, they managed to control a large percentage of the drug trafficking from southern Mexico in Oaxaca to the border with the United States. the the new generation. The most recent accusation from the Department of Justice is from 2022, where Oseguera faced charges of conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl. And in 2024,

the Department of State offered a reward of up to 15 million dollars for information that led to his arrest.

I return with youivo Enrique. Thank you very much, Tiffany Roberts, with the complete information about this priority goal for the fight against drug terrorism after the State Department itself designated the organizations as drug terrorists. And the US government congratulated Mexico for the success of this operation carried out in the afternoon in Jalisco, Mexico. Mexico. Mexico.

Mexico. Mexico.

Mexico.

Mexico. Mexico. The situation is going to get a little more difficult, just like the country. Mexico has been violent for years and I think this will continue a little more.

Thank you for joining us in this special of NMAS Univision and VIX about the fall of alias El Mencho. It was recently revealed that a special team led by US military, specialized in the collection of intelligence on drug cartels, participated in the operation. The State Secretary, Christopher Landau, congratulated the Mexican

Forces for the success of this operation. Let's remember that the Department of Justice offered a reward of 15 million dollars for information that would lead to the capture of Oseguera Cervantes. Specifically, the United States the So, you know, I love a deviance extrema. He loved all the dinero. Maria Molina, TNM's the Tidus in vivo.

This the Washington capital and the anti Maria. He like it. I'm we went as much as a confirm a guest also need us who won papel clave in a superativo que terminal con el fallacimiento

del narco trafficante El Mencho in Mexico la participation de los Estados Unidos for Travis The US participation was through a Joint Special Force, which was created discreetly last year and which is in charge of intelligence work. It is a force that is in charge of tracking, mapping the different activities of the Mexican drug cartels on the border between the US and Mexico, and that was essential when carrying out this operation. The sub-secretary of state Christopher Landau has already reacted from Washington. the for to the United States so that they can remain safe in the states of Jalisco, Tamaulipas,

Guerrero and Nuevo León, as well as some areas of the state of Michoacán. This is the information we have for the moment from Washington.

Thank you very much, Maria Molina, for the live report from the capital of the country, here in Washington, DC. And let's talk about the reaction of the joint plans between Mexico and the United States for the capture of this dangerous criminal. We thank the diplomat and political analyst John Feeley, who was the ambassador of the United States in Panama, who is joining us today from San Juan, from Puerto Rico.

Ambassador, a pleasure to talk to you tonight. Let me start by asking you about revelations that we have known in the last hours about the creation of a joint task force in the North Command for operations against drug trafficking in Mexico and the role that this joint task force would have had in today's

operation.

Enrique, the creation of that force of task is not really anything new. It's a bit like going back to the future. I remember very well in my time working in Mexico as a minister and ambassador, we worked with a unit that did exactly the same thing. What happens is that at this point in the Trump administration, in its relationship with Claudia Sheinbaum, there is a level of acceptance that the two nations are going to collaborate

openly. The mere fact that this morning, in the first statement that I saw, from Sedena, they publicly mentioned the existence of the American intelligence that was contributed to this operation. For me, it is a great achievement, because we did it before, but what we did not do before

was to say it out loud. the Trump, solamente del subsecretario del Departamento de Estado, Chris Landau.

En realidad no, Enrique, porque te voy a decir una cosa. Cuando hay operaciones de esta naturaleza, especialmente cuando hay el involucramiento de la inteligencia de los Estados Unidos, hay algo que se llama sources and methods en and we never want to reveal who the sources

were or what the methods, the mechanisms, were used to gather this information and this intelligence. and American with Ambassador John Feeley about the operation this morning in Mexico. In politics, they say that nothing is a coincidence.

We are two days away from the report on the State of the Union in Washington, the capture of the MENCHO. Coincidence?

Oh, man, not really.

Hopefully we can say it today on Netflix, in the future, maybe it will be. No, in reality, these operations are products of the moment when intelligence indicates. No, en realidad estas operaciones son productos del momento cuando la inteligencia indique. Yo recuerdo muy bien en casos anteriores en México cuando Estados Unidos colaboraba con la FES, con la fuerza de especiales, le pasaba información. Una vez con Beltran Leiva fue en una narco posada, it was December 24th.

No, it's when the intelligence tells you now.

As always, a pleasure to talk with Ambassador John Feeley. Thank you for your participation. Good evening from San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition, to be precise, the capture, no, the slaughter, the death of the leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel. When we return, we will talk about the violence that broke out in Mexico

after the death of the leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel. We'll be right back. People are scared right now, because in Guadalajara it's not very common for that to happen.

We continue with this special about the fall of Alias El Mencho. The state of Colima did not escape the day of violence recorded in several states of Mexico after the military operation in Jalisco. The authorities launched operations against the fire of vehicles and road blockade in at least five municipalities in the state. We move on to Berta Reynoso, who has more information.

Berta, what do we know at this time? Good afternoon. From Colima, so far the balance is 35 vehicles on fire. Five shops also on fire. In fact, one is right behind me. the lesion adas yes exactly media or a trance or to order the Sierra total in autopsy toward a la cara colima for a beer that has cassettes that they are getting less stress cassettes that they are here and travel a la cara it and being in Puerto de manzanillo as testimony in tolas on us must affect

others in colima son la capital don't even quentero el puerto de manzanillo villa de alvarez is the seat let la mitad del territorio de Colima.

Es mi reporte por el momento.

Muchas gracias, Berta. Berta Reynoso, reportando en vivo desde Colima. La muerte de Nemesio Ceguera Cervantes marca el fin de una era y a la vez da paso a un nuevo capítulo en el narcotráfico en México. En Jalisco, las autoridades siguen trabajando para liberar I know that the authorities are still working to free the blocked roads. To talk about what the fall of the Alias El Mencho means,

we are joined live from Mexico City by the security analyst Eduardo.

Eduardo, thank you very much for being with us. Hello, how are you? I'm Eduardo Guerrero.

Eduardo Guerrero, yes, excuse me. Thank you for being with us. I wanted to start by asking you, obviously, drug trafficking and the drug trafficking business is a monster with many heads. One head goes, but that doesn't mean the business is over. What comes, as we have seen in previous occasions, is the fight within this organization, the Jalisco Cartel Nueva Generación, que traerá más violencia para la población.

¿Está México preparado para enfrentar este tipo de violencia que se puede desprender de lo que ocurrió hoy?

Bueno, tienes razón en comentar que el narcotráfico es un negocio que va a continuar por décadas, si no es por siglos, mientras is a great demand from the United States. But what the Mexican government has tried in recent years in a fruitless way is to try to reduce the violence that these organizations, no longer only dedicated to drug trafficking, but also to extortion,

to trafficking and trafficking of people, and the theft of fuel, etc. They have been dedicated in recent years and have generated very serious problems of epidemics of violence and governance in various parts of the country. to the the is in a process of disintegration since they extracted Ismael Zambada from Mexico. What can happen with the Sinaloa Cartel is that the Guzman family, the Chapitos, as they are called, weakens and imposes itself in the intestinal war of Sinaloa, the Zambada family, or the Mayiza, or the Mayitos, as they are also called, in that is currently in the Sinaloa cartel. But definitely, the Sinaloa cartel is not in a position to replace the Jalisco cartel, which is much more powerful and much more extensive than the Sinaloa cartel was at some point.

Eduardo, I would like to briefly talk about the relationship with the United States, because this case undoubtedly gives a little more oxygen to President Claudia Sheinbaum to respond to the demands of President Trump and the United States on the results of the war with drug trafficking.

This is the government's strategy. That is, it has given oxygen to the transfer twice of drug traffickers to the United States. And now this, well, it also joining that oxygen, that breath that President Claudia Sheinbaum is giving her. Is this your strategy?

Well, look, without a doubt the US authorities will be in shock with this action against the MENCHO. For many years they have been pressuring for this arrest and in the last few weeks there have even been statements in a gradualist strategy of the Mexican government in its fight against crime, which wanted much more forceful, much more drastic blows. And I think that there the position became very transparent of their pressure.

And on the other hand, there is the issue of the World Cup. It is possible that in the last few days the position of one of the organizers the practically is taken by a cartel because it has the mayors, the police, the prosecutors, etc. in control and we cannot celebrate the World Cup in these conditions. And in the face of this threat of the cancellation of one of the headquarters, the Mexican government, with the commitment of the United States, has been encouraged to start this war in such a contra Cartel Jalisco, ¿no?

Bueno, muchísimas gracias Eduardo Guerrero, analista de Seguridad Nacional, por estar con nosotros y hablarnos sobre las posibles repercusiones de la caída de alias El Mencho. Muchas gracias.

Encantado, con mucho gusto. Hasta pronto.

Gracias, hasta pronto. La caída de El Mencho ha desencadenado reacciones dentro y fuera de México. Al regresar, analizaremos su impacto para el futuro del crimen organizado. La caida del Mencho ha desencadenado reacciones que se sienten dentro y fuera de México. Estados Unidos emitió alerta de viajes para cinco estados de México. has unleashed reactions that are felt inside and outside of Mexico. The United States issued a travel alert for five states in Mexico. In Houston, flights to Guadalajara have been canceled for security reasons and for operations. Daisy Rios has the reactions of some passengers.

Daisy. Good afternoon, good afternoon, good afternoon. to talk to at least four passengers who arrived and were totally in shock, were totally shocked because they told us everything they saw in Guadalajara before being able to take off. And this flight took at least two hours. People were waiting at the airport during all the chaos and violence. We were worried. We were worried because we thought something was going to happen there. of the people we were able to talk to have told us.

However, at least two flights have been canceled today, as I was telling you, from the city of Houston. Meanwhile, from this airport, we have to be on the more on the flight that was scheduled for today. It was also canceled. Tomorrow we're going to be waiting for what they say, depending on the situation with the security issue, if they're going to be renewed or not.

That's all for my Houston report. I'll be back with you.

Thank you, Daisy Rios, from Houston's International Airport. as a precaution, canceled or moved their flights from Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and other places to guarantee the integrity and safety of their passengers and to deepen on what the fall of one of the most dangerous criminals in the world means. I thank journalist Raimundo Riva Palacio in Mexico City who is joining us in this special program. Dear Raimundo, first of all, in addition to thanking you for your presence,

I want to ask you what this means in the security strategy of President Claudia Sheinbaum, comparing it with what her predecessor had presented during the last six years. Good evening, delighted, Enrique. during the last six years. the recapture of Joaquin El Chapo Guzmán in 2015. Now, it's very different to El Chapo Guzmán. By the time they arrested or captured El Chapo Guzmán, he was already practically 15 years old,

or 14 and a half years to be more precise, on the run, living in Salta de Mata and completely out of control of the Sinaloa Cartel, which had been managed since 2001, Ismael El Mayo Zambada. In this case, no. El Mencho was the boss of the most disheartened, most brutal cartel

and most likely the most sophisticated cartel in the history of drugs in the world. Because the issue of drugs was no longer their main business. They already controlled legal markets, illegal markets, transactions through cryptocurrencies. That is, they had unfolded in a series of businesses in the area of finance, in the area of... Well, we saw just a few days ago that the Treasury Department was talking about the business of the times

shared in Puerto Vallarta, one of the epicenters of violence this afternoon, and the more than 300 million dollars in frauds against Americans for elements of the Jalisco Cartel Nueva Generación. It's not just that. Now, look, this point about Puerto Vallarta is is very important because the person who is mentioned there as the head of the Jalisco Cartel's new generation was number 2. He is number 2 and probably at this moment he is number 1 of the Jalisco Cartel's new generation. So what we are seeing is that for several weeks now, there has been a work of attack in different fields of the Jalisco Cartel's new generation the The Mexican government, when planning this operation, was also prepared to face the violent response of this cartel,

which we have seen today, in at least a third of the country, is the most violent reaction in history after the arrest of one of its leaders. Yes, it matters that the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel loses the one who had been its leader until today, ¿Importa que el cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación pierda a quien hasta hoy había sido su líder, así como el cartel Sinaloa se vio fracturado después de la captura del Chapo Guzmán,

la entrega del Mayo Zambada, o la lógica de estas organizaciones criminales opera independientemente de sus liderazgos? Mira, yo creo que no se puede trazar la analogía. of his leadership? the only one who was the only leader. There was no dispute or conflict between his seconds. For example, the one who was

nicknamed the toad, one of the people who died, his right arm, was not fighting with Audias, the number two in the new generation of the Jalisco cartel.

What we saw today in the response, so much muscle in at least six states in the country, and in a way that is a little less intense and less violent in at least five other states, what it shows you is that there is a command that is still coordinated and that is still responding to a leader. I think that is something that makes a big difference

with the case of the Sinaloa Cartel and what is happening in the fraternal war between the two factions.

The Mexican journalist Raimundo Rivapalacio, as always dear Raimundo, a big hug and thank you for joining us in this special. Good night. Good night. of the

on can make some will you buckle up story I think that's what that's me that is it but I don't get to quit but see if you know what any month you wanna see us let's see get up east that I'll restlessly couple Ivan Macias, following the lead to the remains of the most wanted capo in Mexico. Go ahead, Ivan, what do you know?

Thank you very much. Since early morning, a convoy escorted by police arrived at this place where an ambulance with the legend of parole services also arrived at this site where the legal process will have to continue beyond knowing that Nemesio Oseguera was shot down. to the police. He also arrived at this site where he will have to continue the legal process beyond knowing that Nemesio Oseguera was shot.

There is a process in which he must be certified from his own identity and the whole process that the family will have to continue or who claims the body of the shot criminal, along with the other people who on this journey to Mexico City lost their lives on this trip to Mexico City. And all of this has meant a police deployment. On several occasions, the vigilance has increased. We have seen this ambulance leave and the same thing, a contingent in which an armored vehicle arrived.

All of this has happened since about three in the afternoon, local time, in Mexico City,

and has affected the daily life of this space in the city, the center. of the to of an extraordinary, exceptional situation. We live in critical times, in which incidents occurred in different parts of the state of Jalisco, in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, says Governor Pablo Lemus Navarro. I want to acknowledge the people who give their efforts to the security, health and protection corporations. These are moments of adversity. Unity and solidarity will make a difference for our country and our state. for We are in Tapalpa, a residential area where many Jaliscenses have their weekend residencies. This is where the military forces, the special forces, the so-called bats of the Mexican army,

shot down this dangerous criminal and leader of the Jalisco Cartel, the new generation, the Mencho. Ilia. and that had an impact not only in Jalisco, but it had spread to a large part of the country and had a strong impact in more than 10 states that are now experiencing the consequences of the fall of Mexico's most wanted leader at the moment.

That's right, Ilia. Well, a historic day. Mexico has lived an intense day. The death of Nemesio Ceguera Cervantes, a.k.a. El Mencho, el capo más peligroso del mundo, marca un giro en la lucha contra el narcotráfico en México.

A pesar del miedo y la violencia desplegada hoy, lo ocurrido podría significar una esperanza, si se puede, para un país que ha sido tan azotado por el crimen organizado. para un país que ha sido tan azotado por el crimen organizado. Les agradecemos a todos su atención en este programa especial, So, so Outro