Inside the Trump admin’s shadow war of ‘total elimination’ against ‘El Mencho’

Government documents reveal that the downfall of drug lord El Mencho over the weekend was the culmination of an aggressive, more than year-long strategy of “zero elimination” pursued by the Trump administration against ruthless criminals. Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), which is in nearly all 50 U.S. states.

Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” the leader of the CJNG, was killed Sunday in a violent operation. Mexican military operation Authorities in Tapalpa, Mexico, said. Although the operation was carried out by Mexican forces, the United States laid the groundwork, making the fall of El Mincho possible.

On the president Donald TrumpOn his first day in office, he signed an executive order directing the State Department to designate several cartels and international criminal groups as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a designation that opens the door to military surveillance and “material support” prosecutions. Although less well-known than MS-13 or Tren de Aragua, the CJNG was one of the groups designated by the administration as a foreign terrorist organization.

Shortly after Trump’s executive order was issued, on February 5, the Attorney General issued a decision Pam Bondi A policy memorandum was sent to all Justice Department employees, announcing a “fundamental change in mindset and approach” toward cartels and transnational criminal organizations toward a policy of “total elimination.”

A photo of Ruben “Nemesio” Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” along with graffiti depicting the Jalisco Cartel’s messages to the new generation covers the facade of an abandoned house in El Limoncito in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. (Eduardo Verdugo/AP Images; Drug Enforcement Administration)

Instead of simply seeking to mitigate the harms of cartel activity, Bondi said the Justice Department would suspend red tape “to enable federal prosecutors across the country to work expeditiously with the Department of Homeland Security and other parts of the government toward the goal of eliminating these threats to the sovereignty of the United States.”

The memo said the Justice Department would give priority to cartel managers and leaders.

According to the DEA’s 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, CJNG is one of Mexico’s most ruthless cartels and a major supplier of fentanyl to the United States, making it “one of the most significant threats to the public health, public safety, and national security of the United States.”

CJNG operates extensive distribution networks within the United States, with partners, facilitators and subsidiaries operating in “nearly all 50 U.S. states,” the DEA said. The DEA also said the CJNG is increasing its involvement in non-drug-related crimes, including extortion, human smuggling taxation, and fraud schemes.

A 2019 Justice Department statement to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs states that CJNG is “one of the most powerful and fastest-growing cartels” and operates major drug distribution centers in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Atlanta. The Department of National Intelligence estimates the group has approximately 15,000 to 20,000 members.

External cartel police: Rocket launchers seized in highlight of EL MENCHO CJNG FIREPOWER raid

A soldier stands guard over a charred vehicle after it was set on fire in Quintezio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, February 22, 2026, following the death of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho.” (AP Photo/Armando Solis)

Recognizing the threat posed by CJNG, the administration announced key findings just over one month after Trump’s inauguration. On February 27, Bundy announced that the United States had secured the extradition of 29 high-ranking cartel leaders from Mexico, including top-tier CJNG leaders, a key financial broker and an El Mencho family member. Among those extradited and charged was Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “Tony Montana,” El Mencho’s brother, who was charged in the District of Columbia for his alleged leadership role in the cartel.

On March 7, El Mencho’s son and potential heir, Ruben Oseguera González, known as “El Menchito,” was sentenced in Washington, D.C., to life in prison plus 30 years and ordered to forfeit $6 billion in drug proceeds. El Menchito was extradited to the United States during the first Trump administration in 2020.

The following week, on March 15, the president again raised his stance against cartels Appointment of fentanyl As a weapon of mass destruction, allowing the use of advanced military assets for supply-side interception at the border. This move had a significant impact on CJNG’s drug trafficking operations.

June was another high-impact month in the fight against CJNG. El Mencho’s brother-in-law, José González Valencia, “La Chipa,” was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. Another high-ranking leader, José González Valencia, co-founder of the CJNG’s financial wing “Los Cuinis”, was also sentenced to 30 years in prison.

That same month, the Treasury Department used the FEND Off Fintanyl Act for the first time to disconnect three major Mexican banks, CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector, from the US dollar system for allegedly laundering CJNG money.

The number of drug overdose deaths in the United States drops by 20% as the Trump administration cracks down on the southern border.

The DEA in Atlanta seized more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine linked to the violent “New Generation Jalisco Cartel” in September. (Fox News)

In August, the administration secured the extradition of 26 more senior cartel leaders from Mexico, including Abigail González Valencia, another son-in-law of El Mencho known as “El Quini,” who was the head of a major cartel money-laundering organization.

Without pause, the following month, the DEA and Department of Homeland Security launched a massive, week-long nationwide operation targeting CJNG distribution networks. These efforts led to the arrest of 670 people and the confiscation of $18 million in currency and $29 million in assets. The operation also resulted in the seizure of 92.4 kilograms of fentanyl powder and 1,157,672 counterfeit fentanyl pills.

In announcing the seizures, DEA Director Terrence Cole said the agency was “targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel for what it is — a terrorist organization — at every level, from its leadership to its distribution networks and everyone in between.”

Mexico transfers 37 cartel members to us under pressure from the Trump administration

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said homicides have fallen to historic levels as Trump ramps up arrests, deportations and crackdowns on gangs, citing new crime data. (Alex Brandon/AP)

“Let this serve as a warning,” Cole said at the time. “DEA will not relent… This focused operation is just the beginning – we will continue this fight forward together until this threat is defeated.”

By the end of 2025, the DEA reported that it had seized a total of 47 million fentanyl pills, enough to represent more than 369 million lethal doses, from cartel traffickers, including CJNG.

At the beginning of 2026, the administration again increased its targeting of CJNG and other cartels. The War Department established the Joint Interagency Anti-Cartel Task Force (JIATF-CC) under U.S. Northern Command as the “next step” in a whole-of-government approach to “identify, disrupt, and dismantle cartel operations that pose a threat to the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

On February 19, just 72 hours before the Tapalpa raid, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Covay Gardens, a CJNG-controlled resort in Puerto Vallarta, cutting off a $300 million revenue stream flowing into the cartel’s coffers.

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Following the raid, the White House press secretary said Caroline Levitt The United States confirmed providing intelligence support to the Mexican government to assist in the operation.

Levitt added that Trump “has been very clear that the United States will ensure that drug terrorists… are forced to face the wrath of justice they have long deserved.”

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