Roving Periscope: How a girlfriend became Mexican drug lord’s nemesis?

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Mexico has deployed over 10,000 troops to quell the ongoing countrywide clashes sparked by the killing of the country’s most-wanted cop—turned-drug lord “El Mencho,” who carried a USD 15 million bounty on his head, followed by clashes that claimed dozens of lives, the media reported on Tuesday.

Authorities also announced the death of his right-hand man, Hugo H., known as “El Tuli.” El Mencho, 59, was long considered one of the country’s most ruthless criminal figures.

The drug lord’s net worth was estimated at nearly USD 1 billion.

Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, 59, gang leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was wounded on Sunday in a shootout with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco State, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the army said. News of his death triggered spasms of violence, with cartel members blocking roads in 20 States and torching multiple vehicles and businesses.

Security officials simply tracked his girlfriend to his cabin to kill him, the reports said.

During the raid on Oseguera and subsequent clashes, at least 27 members of security forces, 46 suspected criminals and one civilian were killed, authorities reported.

A prison break in Jalisco saw at least 23 people escape when their jail was attacked in a hail of gunfire by “criminal groups.”

Panicked, local people went into hiding and tourists took shelter in their hotels as cartel members went on the rampage over the last weekend. Even as calm largely returned, many businesses remained closed on Monday as well.

The government sent an additional 2,500 troops to Jalisco — one of the host cities in this year’s FIFA World Cup — bringing to 10,000 the troop deployment since Sunday.

In Aguillila, the birthplace of “El Mencho” in Michoacan state, residents reported blockades early Monday.

In Jalisco’s state capital Guadalajara, schools remained closed and most public transportation was suspended.

The weekend violence also gripped the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, popular with US tourists. Travel warnings from Britain, Canada and the United States were issued in the fallout, with Australia urging citizens to “exercise a degree of caution.”

Amid Mexican anarchy, dozens of US and Canadian flights were also cancelled.

Oseguera was considered the last of the drug lords who acted in the brutal mould of the now-imprisoned Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, of the rival Sinaloa cartel. He was a founding member of CJNG, which was formed in 2009 and has grown into one of Mexico’s most violent crime organizations.

With his son Ruben “El Menchito” Oseguera Gonzalez, 35, convicted by a federal jury in Washington in September 2025, experts warned the “absence of a direct succession” could lead to a power vacuum.

Tracking girlfriend 

Mexico said the operation to seize Oseguera was helped by “complementary information” from US authorities. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Washington “provided intelligence support.” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum asserted that no U.S. forces took part in the capture raid.

Key to locating Oseguera was one of his girlfriends, Mexican Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said.

Officials learned of a rendezvous between the woman and the drug lord and used that information to track him to a ranch in Jalisco State.

Two suspected cartel members were arrested and a variety of weapons seized during the operation, including rocket launchers capable of downing airplanes and destroying armoured vehicles, the army said.

Washington classified CJNG as a terrorist organization and accused it of sending cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States.

The raid came amid ongoing pressure from President Donald Trump for Mexico to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, or face stiff tariffs.

Security officials did not follow the money or the drug trail to trap Mexico’s most-wanted kingpin but trailed his “romantic partner.” This led them into the wooded mountains of Jalisco state, to the cabin where “El Mencho” was hiding since at least Friday last.

The operation culminated in a vicious firefight that killed several suspected cartel members, and by Sunday morning, Oseguera was also dead after being fatally wounded in a shootout with Mexican authorities.

Once news of his death became public, Mexico erupted.

The stunning operation was a major victory in Mexico’s new offensive against drug cartels, under pressure from President Trump. But it also plunged the country into chaos, as armed groups retaliated in 20 of the country’s 32 states. They attacked security forces, blocked highways and set fire to supermarkets, gas stations, banks and vehicles. At least 62 people in total were killed.

Airlines and bus companies cancelled routes, trapping travellers, including thousands of tourists in beach destinations such as Puerto Vallarta, a major resort town on Mexico’s Pacific coast. They were told to shelter in place as they watched plumes of smoke rise from the burning city.

By Monday afternoon, however, order seemed to have been largely restored across the country.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said the roadblocks on the highways had been cleared. But the atmosphere remained tense in parts of the country. Schools and businesses remained closed in some of the areas hit hardest, and many residents stayed home.

“The most important thing at this moment is to guarantee peace and security for the entire population of Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.

Policeman-turned-gangster Oseguera formed the Jalisco cartel over 15 years ago after he broke away from the rival Sinaloa Cartel. The cartel’s activities included drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and migrant smuggling. Oseguera had a reputation for attacking security forces and terrorizing communities. The US State Department offered a USD 15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

His death marks the first time in recent years that the Mexican military has killed a top cartel leader in the country.

The operation began on Friday, when Mexican intelligence officials tracked a man close to one of Oseguera’s “romantic partners.” The man had taken the woman to see Oseguera in Tapalpa, Jalisco state, the colonial town in the countryside of the cartel’s stronghold.

The next day, the woman left the cabin, but Oseguera stayed behind with his security team. Mexican special forces then began planning his capture.

They moved in to the small city of Tapalpa early Sunday morning. Once the forces made themselves known, Oseguera fled, while a battle broke out between the troops and the cartel boss’s ‘security team.’

His associates had a “large amount of weaponry.” The armed forces found seven long weapons and two rocket launchers. Mexican authorities fought back and eight suspected cartel members were killed.

The Mexican special forces then tracked Oseguera and another group of his associates to a nearby wooded area. His group had a rocket launcher that had also been used in 2015 to take down a military helicopter elsewhere in Jalisco state, killing nine security forces searching for him. Mexican authorities prevented them from using it this time, but that Oseguera’s associates still managed to damage a nearby military helicopter, which made an emergency landing.

In all, Mexican authorities said they arrested 70 people and killed 34 suspected cartel members in the chaos across the country on Sunday, while 25 members of the national guard were among the dead. Local news outlets reported a civilian killed was a pregnant woman who had been caught in a shootout.

Antonio Morales Díaz, the mayor of Tapalpa, said on Monday that he did not know the notorious cartel leader was staying there. The town is a tourist destination for those seeking a cabin getaway or hiking in the woods, he said.