The Brutal Rise Of El Mencho, Mexico’s Next-Generation Narco

Various drug cartels and criminal organizations have taken control over Mexico, the United States, and Latin America in general. The leader of Jalisco’s New Generation cartel, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera is one of Mexico’s most wanted criminals.

The Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the Knights Templar Cartel, The Zetas and La Resistencia, have been battling each other for years for a common end: the absolute control of the territories, but Jalisco’s New Generation has had the biggest operation since 2012.

Oseguera rose to power since the capture of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, and he has taken to his new role with violent gusto, as he was terrorized Guadalajara with burning buses, shootings, and police killings.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes rose to the leadership of the Mexican drug cartels with the capture of “El Chapo” Guzmán, since then he has terrorized Jalisco and the cartel he leads, New Generation, has been called the most dangerous one in Mexico (Photo: Getty Images).

His real name is Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, he adopted the name Nemesio to honor his godfather. New Generation, the cartel he leads, has blocks of operations in 12 states of Mexico.

At the age of 25, Rubén (or Nemesio) Oseguera Cervantes was arrested in Sacramento along side his brother Abraham, both accused of participating in a criminal organization that distribured heroine in northern California.

The most recent accusation against him is the one claimed in a Washington D.C. court, which links him to the methamphetamine illegal trade all the way to Australia. His cartel specializes on the lethal drug, as it has higher profit margins than cocaine or heroine.

Oseguera’s cartel, New Generation, specializes in meth, as it has higher profits than other drugs. He was arrested in Sacramento when he was 25 for distributing the very same drug (photo: Rolling Stone).

For experts in security issues, “El Mencho” is public enemy number one, and the new face of Mexican drug trafficking. The U.S. government is offering up to $5 million for information that leads to his arrest and/or conviction.

Everard Meade, director of the Transboundary Institute, points out that Oseguera is a criminal business man that has used terror to establish his commercial relationships, eliminating anyone that interferes with his operation the most brutal way possible.

One of the most heinous crimes in the History of drug trafficking was committed by New Generation, it happened on September 2, 2011, when they left the corpses of 12 women and 23 men in front of a mall in Boca del Río, en Veracruz, as a message for the rival cartel called “Los Zetas”.

Oseguera now tops the American DEA’s most wanted list, alongside El Chapo’s partner Ismael Zambada. Under the Kingpin Act, the United States is offering up a $5 million for any valuable information about Cervantes that leads to his capture (photo: sinembargo.mx).

While El Chapo’s face is familiar, only a handful of photos of Mencho are known to exist. A DEA agent stated: “He’s kind of a ghost.” If the drug lord were captured tomorrow, the U.S. would likely request his extradition. Experts suspects he is hiding in a remote mountainous area somewhere, likely in Jalisco or Michoacán.