For years, American families buried children killed by fentanyl while the man running the pipeline lived free in the mountains of Jalisco.
That man – Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes – had a $15 million American bounty on his head, a federal indictment in Washington D.C., and rocket launchers in his compound.
He's dead now, and Trump's intelligence operation put him there.
How Trump's Cartel Crackdown Took Down the World's Top Fentanyl Trafficker
Mexican special forces hit El Mencho's location in Tapalpa, Jalisco – a small mountain town about two hours from Guadalajara – on Sunday morning.
Troops came under fire the moment they moved in.
When it was over, four cartel members were dead at the scene, El Mencho was wounded and being flown to Mexico City, and soldiers had seized armored vehicles and rocket launchers capable of bringing down aircraft.
El Mencho died en route.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that U.S. intelligence drove the operation.
"'El Mencho' was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland," Leavitt wrote on X.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called the result exactly what it was: "The good guys are stronger than the bad guys."
The CJNG Ran Free Under Biden — Trump Designated Them Terrorists and Hunted Them Down
El Mencho built the Jalisco New Generation Cartel – CJNG – into the most powerful drug trafficking organization in Mexico after El Chapo's arrest.
The DEA considered CJNG as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, with operatives in all 50 American states.
In 2019, the DEA's top agent in Mexico called El Mencho "the number one priority for DEA and frankly for federal law enforcement in the United States."
He stayed free through all four years of Biden.
Trump took office, designated CJNG a foreign terrorist organization, applied sustained pressure on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, and watched Mexico send 92 high-level cartel figures to American courts.
That partnership produced the intelligence that put soldiers at El Mencho's door.
U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson confirmed it: "Under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels."
CJNG Fentanyl Trafficking Killed Americans for Years — Here Is the Scale
El Mencho wasn't a gang leader. He was the operational head of a poison pipeline.
The DEA estimated CJNG was responsible for at least a third of all drugs entering the U.S. by air and sea as of 2019.
Fentanyl. Methamphetamine. Cocaine. The Justice Department's 2022 indictment described tonnage quantities manufactured and distributed specifically for importation into the United States.
The weapons seized Sunday tell the same story about who these people are.
CJNG shot down a Mexican military helicopter in 2015, killing nine law enforcement officers, using the same class of rocket launchers troops confiscated at El Mencho's compound.
After El Mencho — What Happens to the Jalisco Cartel Now
El Mencho had no clear successor. His brother is in a U.S. prison. His son is in prison. His daughter is in prison.
The DEA describes CJNG as a franchise – roughly 90 regional organizations that answered to El Mencho.
Without him, those factions will fight each other for control.
That's the El Chapo pattern. When the Sinaloa cartel lost its leader, it fractured into a civil war between competing factions that weakened it for years.
The same clock is now running on CJNG.
Former DEA Chief of International Operations Mike Vigil called Sunday's operation "one of the most significant actions undertaken in the history of drug trafficking."
Biden's open border let these people expand their reach.
Trump hunted down the man who ran the operation.
Sources:
- Karoline Leavitt, White House Statement on X, February 22, 2026.
- Fox News, "Fentanyl lord El Mencho reportedly killed in Mexico military operation," Fox News Digital, February 22, 2026.
- Daily Wire, "Chaos Erupts In Mexico After Cartel Boss 'El Mencho' Killed By Special Forces," The Daily Wire, February 22, 2026.
- Daily Caller, "El Mencho, Head Of Cartel Trump Designated As Terrorists, Reportedly Killed In Mexico," The Daily Caller, February 22, 2026.
- Washington Times, "U.S. provided intel support to Mexico for operation that killed powerful cartel leader," The Washington Times, February 23, 2026.
- Fox News, "Death toll rises after Mexican drug cartel leader killed in US-backed operation," Fox News Digital, February 23, 2026.
