'El Mencho' is dead – Time for the US and Mexico to be honest about drugs and guns

The devastating violence and chaos of Mexico's drug cartels can be measured in dollars and pesos.

- Mary Sanchez

A National Guard officer stands guard outside the Fiscalia Especializada en Materia de Delincuencia Organizada on Feb, 23, 2026, in Mexico City, Mexico. The Secretariat of National Defense of Mexico confirmed that during a security operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, was killed, along with four other members.

(Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images/Tribune Content Agency)

Bilateral financial pain has been unfolding in recent days, stretching deeply into Mexico and the U.S.

Both nations are threatened with financial losses after the death of Jalisco cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes. His death has already impacted tourism in Mexico. If violence breaks out again, as it did after his death, it could disrupt the upcoming FIFA World Cup matches.

But the targeted elimination of Oseguera Cervantes could be an opportunity for a much-needed realignment, a strengthening of drug policy, and cooperation between Mexico and the U.S.

For too long, blame has dominated relations between the two countries.

The U.S. points to Mexico as the producer of fentanyl, meth, and other drugs, causing immense suffering in North America through drug overdoses. Mexico points to the U.S. as the market that keeps illicit drug-selling highly profitable for the cartels.

The U.S. is also the source of the high-powered firearms that the cartels use to threaten and extort Mexicans, often acting with craven brutality, like domestic terrorists.

But the events of recent days have opened the possibility of more honest assessments, new understandings, and, hopefully, progress.