Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was born in July 1964 or 1966 in the rural community of Culotitlán in Aguililla, Michoacán, Mexico.

His first name is cited as "Rubén" and/or "Nemesio".

He has alternative aliases like "Nemecio", "Rubén Acerguera Cervantes", "Lorenzo Mendoza", and "Nemesio Oseguera Ramos".

Some sources state that his birth-given name was Rubén but that he changed it to Nemesio in memory of his godfather.

He is widely known by his alias "El Mencho", a nickname that derives from the phonetic derivation of Nemesio.

Another nickname is "The Lord of the Roosters", said to be derived from his love for cockfighting.

El Mencho grew up in a poor family that cultivated avocados.

He had five brothers: Juan, Miguel, Antonio, Marín, and Abraham.

He dropped out of primary school in fifth grade to work in the fields.

At the age of 14 he started guarding marijuana plantations.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes (born 17 July 1966, or 17 July 1964), commonly referred to by his alias El Mencho, is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an organized crime group based in Jalisco.

He is the most-wanted person in Mexico and one of the most-wanted in the U.S. Both governments are offering up to Mexican $30 million and US $10 million, respectively, for information leading to his arrest.

He is wanted for drug trafficking, organized crime involvement, and undocumented possession of firearms.

El Mencho is allegedly responsible for coordinating global drug trafficking operations.

Under his command, the CJNG became one of Mexico's leading criminal organizations.

Born into poverty in Mexico, El Mencho grew avocados and dropped out of primary school before immigrating illegally to the U.S. in the 1980s.

A few years later, he decided he wanted a better life for himself and immigrated illegally to the U.S. state of California in the 1980s.

To conceal his identity in the U.S., he used different names and combinations, like "Rubén Ávila", "José López Prieto", "Miguel Valadez", "Carlos Hernández Mendoza", "Roberto Salgado", among others.

According to border entry records, El Mencho crossed the U.S.-Mexico border several times during the late 1980s under other aliases.

The DEA and Mexican investigators believe that it was during this time that he became involved in meth production and trade in Redwood City, alongside his brother-in-law Abigael González Valencia (alias "El Cuini").

In 1986, he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He was arrested by the San Francisco Police at the age of 19 for stolen property and carrying a loaded gun.

Two months after his arrest, his first child was born.

In 1989, El Mencho was arrested again in San Francisco for selling narcotics.

He was deported to Mexico several months later, but re-entered the U.S. and resettled in San Francisco.

After being arrested several times, he was deported to Mexico in the early 1990s and worked for the Milenio Cartel.

He eventually climbed to the top of the criminal organization and founded the CJNG after several of his bosses were arrested or killed.

His notoriety is also a result of his aggressive leadership and sensationalist acts of violence against both rival criminal groups and Mexican security forces alike.

These attacks brought him increased government attention and an extensive manhunt.

Security forces suspect he is hiding in the rural terrains of Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and/or Colima, and is guarded by mercenaries with former military training.

In February 2022 unconfirmed reports began to surface stating that El Mencho had died from respiratory arrest while undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Guadalajara.

However, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Kyle Mori, who heads the search for El Mencho, denied rumors of his death in an interview he gave to KFI AM's in March 2023.

In September 1992, he was arrested again, this time on federal drug charges in Sacramento, California.

According to court records, El Mencho and his brother Abraham were at a San Francisco bar known as Imperial to carry out a heroin deal: five ounces for US$9,500.

Abraham was in charge of the transaction, while El Mencho acted as a lookout.

El Mencho was 26 years old at that time, much younger than Abraham, but was savvy enough to recognize that the transaction was a set-up by the police.

He told his brother that the men to whom they gave the heroin handed over perfectly stacked dollar bills instead of loose ones.

Through a wiretap conversation, the police overheard El Mencho warning his brother to never do business with them again since they were undercover cops.

Three weeks after the incident both men were arrested by the police.

In court, El Mencho insisted that he was innocent.