Nemesio Oseguera, the leader of Mexico’s largest drug cartel, the CJNG, was discovered and killed after intelligence agencies tracked down his girlfriend.

Mexican Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla revealed on February 23 that before the raid that killed Oseguera (nicknamed El Mencho) on February 22, agents had identified a close associate of the drug lord’s girlfriend.

On February 21, intelligence officers discovered the woman had been taken to Tapalpa, a mountain resort in Jalisco, to meet Oseguera. After his girlfriend left, Oseguera remained there with his bodyguards.

Nemesio Oseguera (center) in a photographic evidence provided by U.S. federal prosecutors. Photo: U.S. Courts

Nemesio Oseguera (center) in a photographic evidence provided by U.S. federal prosecutors. Photo: U.S. Courts

According to Minister Trevilla, the Mexican National Guard’s Special Rapid Response Force had meticulously planned the attack. The soldiers approached the area but did not enter Jalisco “to maintain secrecy and the element of surprise.” After confirming Oseguera’s presence at the resort, they decided to proceed with the raid.

“It was a pretty intense operation,” Minister Trevilla said, adding that authorities seized a large quantity of weapons at the scene, including assault rifles and two rocket launchers.

In 2015, Oseguera’s bodyguards used rocket launchers to shoot down a military helicopter, helping the drug lord escape capture.

Oseguera was not so lucky this past weekend. While fleeing, he and his close circle of bodyguards took refuge in a forest surrounding the resort’s wooden cabins.

The soldiers quickly surrounded Oseguera despite fierce resistance. His bodyguards shot down a military helicopter, forcing it to make an emergency landing at a nearby base.

A bus was set ablaze on a highway in Cointzio, Michoacan state, on February 22, after the Mexican president announced the death of Oseguera. Photo: AP

A bus was set ablaze on a highway in Cointzio, Michoacan state, on February 22, after the Mexican president announced the death of Oseguera. Photo: AP

During the shootout, soldiers wounded Oseguera and two of his bodyguards. All three were airlifted to a hospital in Guadalajara but died en route. Their bodies were later flown to Mexico City and handed over to the Attorney General’s Office. Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said Oseguera’s body would be returned to his family.

In retaliation for Oseguera’s death, gunmen blocked more than 20 roads in Jalisco state by burning cars and trucks. 25 Mexican National Guard soldiers were killed in Jalisco in six retaliatory attacks by the CJNG. Violence also spread to other Mexican states but subsided by February 23.

The government has deployed around 10,000 soldiers to maintain security; however, lockdowns continue in remote areas of Jalisco state and neighboring Michoacan state.

Oseguera was arrested on drug-related charges in San Francisco in 1986. Photo: DEA

Oseguera was arrested on drug-related charges in San Francisco in 1986. Photo: DEA

American media outlets have called Oseguera the most powerful drug lord in Mexico. Since its founding in 2009, his CJNG cartel has become one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Washington has designated CJNG as a terrorist organization, accusing it of smuggling cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States.

Oseguera was killed amid US pressure on Mexico to stop the flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl, into the country. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, arguing that his counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum has not done enough to combat drug trafficking.