Foreign Affairs

Drug Cartel Slaughters Mexican Soldiers After Deadly Raid Against Kingpin

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum (Photo via Office of Presidencia de Guatemala)

Members of drug cartel Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) killed 25 Mexican National Guard members across six attacks after the country’s special forces killed the cartel’s leader, the Associated Press (AP) reported Monday.

The Mexican military killed CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” during an operation Sunday after a shootout at his Jalisco home in which eight cartel members were killed, according to the AP. El Menchoand two bodyguards were reportedly critically wounded during the operation and died during evacuation, Mexican National Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said in Spanish at a Monday press conference.

“A force of six helicopters and special forces personnel quietly went to the operations area to maintain secrecy and achieve surprise,” Trejo said in Spanish. “El Mencho left the site, leaving behind a group with a large amount of weaponry. It was truly a very violent attack carried out by the organized crime personnel, and the special forces military personnel repelled the action.”

El Mencho and his bodyguards fled to a cabin where they and two Mexican soldiers were injured according to Trejo.

Violence erupted after El Mencho’s death, according to Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus Navarro, who wrote in Spanish in a Sunday X post that “individuals have burned and blocked vehicles” as a result of the operation.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum recognized the “Mexican Army, National Guard, Armed Forces, and Security Cabinet” in an X post Sunday in Spanish, adding, “we must remain informed and calm.”

The Trump administration designated CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorists alongside several other drug cartels by the Department of State in February 2025. The State Department fact sheet states that CJNG “is a transnational organization with a presence in nearly every part of Mexico,” engaging in drug trafficking, extortion and weapons trade.