Monday, March 2, 2026

Funeral for El Mencho draws heavy security as CJNG leader is laid to rest in Zapopan

The body of Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes arrived in Guadalajara on Sunday for burial, one week after the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was fatally wounded in a military operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco.

Oseguera’s body was transported to the Jalisco capital from Mexico City by road and arrived at a funeral home in the San Andrés neighborhood at around 9:40 a.m., according to a source who spoke to the Guadalajara-based newspaper El Informador.

The body was expected to remain at the funeral home during a wake, before interment at a cemetery in the municipality of Zapopan on Monday, according to El Informador. There was a strong security presence around the funeral home on Sunday morning.

Oseguera’s remains were taken to Mexico City last Sunday after the CJNG leader died en route to a hospital in Jalisco after he was shot by soldiers during an operation at the Tapalpa Country Club estate.

The Federal Attorney General’s Office said on Saturday that his body had been handed over to unidentified family members. It said that genetic tests were carried out to confirm that there were “blood ties” between the person who requested the body and the deceased.

According to a death certificate issued by the Mexico City Civil Registry, Oseguera died from gunshot wounds he sustained to his chest, abdomen and legs.

Floral arrangement a nod to Oseguera’s love of cockfighting  

In addition to El Mencho’s body, floral arrangements arrived at the San Andrés funeral home on Sunday morning.

In a social media post, the news outlet Quadratín Jalisco published photos of two of those arrangements, one of which was in the form of a rooster. Oseguera — a Michoacán native who was 59 at the time of his death — was nicknamed “El Señor de los Gallos” (The Lord of the Roosters) due to his love of cockfighting.

Quadratín Jalisco said that a second floral arrangement, which also consisted of red roses, was emblazoned with the initials CJNG, the cartel “El Mencho” founded and led until his death last Sunday.

El Informador reported that another floral arrangement included a message that read: “From a family that will always be grateful.”

Mexican and U.S. intelligence allowed authorities to locate Oseguera at the Tapalpa Country Club, where he received a visit from a “romantic partner” just before his death, according to Defense Minister Ricardo Trevilla Trejo.

The operation targeting “El Mencho,” who was wanted in Mexico and the United States, triggered a violent reaction from the CJNG, which set up fiery narco-blockades, set businesses ablaze and engaged in gunfights with security forces, including members of the National Guard, 25 of whom were killed.

With reports from Informador, López-Dóriga DigitalEl Financiero and Reforma

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