Mexico’s most-wanted fentanyl kingpin, "El Mencho," was captured and killed Sunday after authorities tracked his romantic partner to a secret rendezvous location over the weekend, Mexican officials revealed Monday.
The operation reportedly began Feb. 20, targeting Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." He carried a $15 million U.S. bounty and rose to power following the arrest of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said during a news conference that military intelligence identified and located a trusted courier or guard connected to one of Oseguera Cervantes’s romantic partners.
The associate then transported the partner to a designated cabin for an overnight meeting with "El Mencho."
"On February 20, through central military intelligence work, a man of trust of one of El Mencho’s romantic partners was located, who took her to a facility in the town of Tapalpa, Jalisco," Trevilla Trejo said.
The following day, the partner left the property, but intelligence confirmed that Oseguera Cervantes remained behind with a small security detail, prompting authorities, including Army Special Forces and the National Guard’s Immediate Reaction Force, to carry out the operation.
Security forces reportedly raided the private property after aerial surveillance spotted Oseguera Cervantes’ inner circle openly carrying illegal high-caliber weapons, including rocket launchers and long guns.
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