Chaos erupted in Mexico after the leader of the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” was shot and killed by the Mexican army.

In response to the death of their kingpin, the CJNG launched a spree of unprecedented attacks against soldiers, infrastructure, and civilians across 20 different Mexican states. 

So far at least 73 people have been killed, including 25 National Guard soldiers, marking Sunday the 22nd as one of the deadliest for the army since the revolutionary and religious wars of the early twentieth century.

Luis Romero Valdez, 20, from an outer suburb of Guadalajara, the capital city of Jalisco, explained to Farrago how the attack against the state began:

“Yesterday we went to [hike] a hill, and we had to turn back because of the events that were happening in the city. When we returned to the town of Santa Lucía, the municipality was like a ghost town.”

“We took shelter in a church and shortly after we started hearing bursts of gunfire at close range.” 

While reflecting on watching his home descend into violence, Luis drew on a Mexican saying which translates to, “When it’s your time, it’s your time. And when it’s not, nothing you do will make it so.” 

He continued, “Every day different crimes happen in the state of Jalisco, you just hear about them and then keep living your life.” 

Guadalajara, a World Cup hosting city, was one of the most targeted areas during the assault. 

Organised crime groups successfully disrupted civilian life as shops were set alight, blockades containing burning cars obstructed main roads, and reports emerged of multiple international airports  being attacked, causing flights to be suspended. 

Luis, saw these effects firsthand, “a few blocks from my house there’s a Oxxo store, yesterday they set it on fire.” 

New Generation Jalisco Cartel

The CJNG is widely considered the most powerful cartel in Mexico, known for their speciality in cultivating synthetic drugs to traffic into the United States and other countries including Australia. 

The organisation has been known for their use of hyper-violent tactics in the past. In 2015 they shot down an army helicopter with a rocket launcher. 

While their military arsenal and capacity had allowed El Mencho to function outside the rule of law in Mexico since the CJNG was conceived in 2009, it was the tracking of a romantic partner of his that led authorities to his hideout. 

After a firefight with authorities, the cartel boss and two of his bodyguards were seriously injured and captured, and were taken into custody only to die soon after while being airlifted to a hospital in Mexico City.

US involvement 

In 2025, the U.S. State Department designated the organisation as a foreign ‘terrorist’ group and offered a reward of $15 million for information that would lead to the capture of El Mencho. 

Jalisco criminal lawyer and researcher Joseph Oid explained to Farrago that the Mexican authorities didn’t act alone. 

“The United States participated in the operation, sharing information to Mexican authorities,” he said. 

Oid believes that the timing of this operation is not coincidental. 

“We must consider that the preparation of the World Cup is happening right now and the Cup is in [a] few months,” he said, “the other reason is the political pressure against Mexico to order the country and take more serious actions against cartels. [The] USA has been requesting more detentions and big fishes.”

What does the violent surge in Jalisco achieve? 

Guillermo Coronado Aguilar, a Mexican attorney and international legal scholar, explained that the assaults pursued against Jalisco and other Mexican states by the CJNG was not a random emotional outburst, but rather a tactical response with multiple potentially desired outcomes. 

“In this case is to show that they are still in charge. This is for the population, as well as to other drug cartels,” he told Farrago, “From a logistical point of view, blocking the roads helps in slowing down the military forces.”

Regardless of what they were attempting to achieve, Oid warns that the future of the CJNG isn’t certain. He believes if they are unable to withhold their control over their various territories, it will likely have disastrous impacts on the civilian populace not only in Jalisco, but much of Mexico.

“[A] power vacuum is happening right now. In [their] structure, they have bosses in the territory, but we should expect the consequences like internal struggles to take on more power or territory and to establish alliances with other groups in the territory.”

“Rearrangement frequently produces power vacuum.”

Luis similarly expressed his concerns for the future of Jalisco, “Possibly the area will heat up because the cartel might split over who will control the criminal cell, or maybe other cartels will try to enter the state… the state could enter into war,” he said. 

Security reinforcements have been deployed, and officials maintain that preparations for the 2026 World Cup will continue as planned.

But within Jalisco, the burned storefronts and thousands of residents sheltering indoors, fearing further escalations, makes the reality of the situation feel far less certain.