The body of the notorious cartel leader known as “El Mencho,” who was killed in a military operation last week, was returned to his family, Mexico’s attorney general’s office said on Saturday.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, who had a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, was wounded by Mexican security forces in Jalisco and died while being flown to Mexico City, officials said. The death of “El Mencho” — who led the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel — sparked a wave of violence by the cartel across a large swath of Mexico, killing dozens of people, including 25 members of Mexico’s National Guard.
In a statement released Saturday, Mexico’s attorney general’s office said it performed genetic tests to match the cartel leader’s remains to the family who requested the body. The office did not indicate where the handover took place or identify the relatives who took the body.
A crucifix, religious candles and a handwritten psalm were found in Oseguera Cervante’s home after the operation, the Associated Press reported. Mexican authorities said they tracked one of his romantic partners to the hideout.
A source briefed on the operation told CBS News the raid was the culmination of intensified U.S.-Mexico counter-cartel cooperation under Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
A defense official told CBS News a counter-cartel task force the Pentagon established under U.S. Northern Command in January “played a role in that the Joint Interagency Task Force regularly works with the Mexican military,” but the official emphasized that this was a Mexican military operation, “so the success is theirs.”
Mexico’s Defense ministry said in a statement that “complementary information was provided by U.S. authorities within the framework of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the United States.”
Homeland security officials are also watching for a response from the cartel’s U.S.-based trafficking and financial networks.
The cartel, also known as CJNG, maintains distribution, logistics and money-movement infrastructure across the U.S. While officials told CBS News there is no indication of an imminent threat to the U.S. as a result of the operation that killed Oseguera Cervantes, law enforcement agencies are monitoring any potential increases in violence, coercion or debt-collection activity inside domestic trafficking corridors.
In February 2025, CJNG was one of several cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Trump administration.
Eleanor Watson and
contributed to this report.
