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Before rising to infamy as Mexico’s most notorious drug cartel leader, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, widely known by his alias “El Mencho,” had a history of arrests and deportations in the United States. These early encounters with the law occurred decades ago, long before he became a key figure in the criminal underworld.
Cervantes’ journey into criminality began at the tender age of 19 on the bustling streets of San Francisco. According to a 2019 report by The Courier Journal, which drew from court documents and interviews with officials from both the U.S. and Mexico, his initial brush with the law came in 1986. It was then that the San Francisco Police Department apprehended him for attempting to sell crystal meth, resulting in his first deportation to Mexico.
Nevertheless, Cervantes was undeterred. By 1989, he had returned to the U.S. only to be arrested once more, which led to his second deportation. His criminal activities escalated in 1992 when he, along with his brother, was caught selling heroin to undercover officers. This offense saw him sentenced to federal prison. Upon serving his time, he was deported yet again, as detailed in The Courier Journal’s report.
In a recent development, the State Department has officially declared El Mencho deceased, closing the chapter on a figure who once dominated headlines as a feared cartel leader.
The State Department declared El Mencho deceased on Tuesday. (State Department)
Mencho then worked his way up in the Milenio cartel after a brief stint working for the Mexican State Police, according to a Rolling Stone profile. He split from the cartel in 2009 and started his own group, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
Mencho ran that organization until his killing at the hands of Mexican police this weekend. He had a $15 million bounty on his head at the time of his death, according to the State Department.
El Mencho was detained during a Mexican operation in Jalisco Sunday. (Drug Enforcement Administration)
The operation, carried out by Mexican forces with U.S. intelligence support, underscores deepening coordination between the two governments as fentanyl trafficking remains a central political and security issue in the United States.
U.S. authorities steadily increased the reward for information leading to his capture, at one point offering up to $15 million, placing him among the most wanted fugitives globally.
Former DEA official Paul Craine once described Oseguera as “public enemy No. 1” and said he commanded an “army of thousands.”
Smoke billows from burning vehicles amid a wave of violence in response to the death of El Mencho, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Feb. 22, 2026. (Screen grab obtained from a social media video. @morelifediares via Instagram/Youtube/via Reuters)
Authorities have linked him to coordinated attacks on Mexican security forces, including a 2015 assault in Jalisco in which cartel gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades to bring down a military helicopter.
Over time, CJNG gained a reputation for projecting strength through public displays of force and social media messaging, reinforcing its position as one of Mexico’s most feared criminal organizations.
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