From rural migrant to cartel chief: The rise and fall of El Mencho

For more than a decade, Nem esio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as 'El Mencho,' led one of the world's most powerful drug trafficking organisations, trans forming the Jalisco New Genera tion Cartel (CJNG) from a breaka way faction into a dominant force in Mexico's criminal underworld.

- Mazhar Farooqui

That chapter ended on February 22. Wounded during a military operation in Jalisco state, he died from gunshot injuries while being airlifted to Mexico City, closing a career marked by ruthless expansion and years of evading capture.

The aftermath was violent and swift. CJNG gunmen torched vehicles, blocked highways and clashed with security forces across multiple states. Authorities reported that at least 25 National Guard members were killed as violence spread through parts of Jalisco and neighbouring regions. The trajectory that led to that moment began far from the conflict zones he would later dominate.

Who was 'El Mencho'?

Born on July 17, 1966, in the rural village of Naranjo de Chila in Michoacan, Oseguera grew up in a farming family. As a young man, he moved to California, where he found work but soon became involved in drug trafficking. Arrests for heroin distribution followed and a 1994 conviction led to nearly three years in federal prison before he was deported to Mexico at 30.

The setback did not slow him. After returning to his home region, he briefly worked as a local police officer, a stint that later contributed to his reputation for understanding law enforcement tactics. He soon left the force and turned fully to organised crime.