Rubén Oseguera González

Rubén Oseguera González (born 14 February 1990), commonly referred to by his alias El Menchito, is a Mexican-American citizen, suspected drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco.

He is the son of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho"), Mexico's most-wanted man.

Under his father, he allegedly worked as the CJNG's second-in-command and managed international drug trafficking operations.

Rubén Oseguera González was born on 14 February 1990, in San Francisco County, California.

He also holds Mexican citizenship.

He has several aliases, including "Rubén Garibay González", "El Junior", "El Rubencito", "El Rojo", "El Niño", and "El Menchito".

His last nickname is a diminutive of his father's nickname El Mencho, which comes from the phonetic derivation of his name Nemesio.

His mother, Rosalinda González Valencia, is the sister of Abigael González Valencia, a former leader of the Milenio Cartel and Los Cuinis.

His father, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (alias "El Mencho"), is the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and one of Mexico's most-wanted men.

Oseguera González has two sisters, Jessica Johana and Laisha.

According to Mexican government sources, Oseguera González acted as the CJNG's second-in-command, just below his father.

He was allegedly responsible for managing the CJNG's operations in buying and selling narcotics from South America to Mexico.

He was also accused of coordinating stolen gasoline sales in Jalisco, leading a group of hitmen who killed people who refused to work with the CJNG, overseeing a line of hitmen responsible for protecting CJNG's turf in Jalisco and Colima from rival gangs like the Knights Templar Cartel and Los Zetas, and managing the CJNG's financial assets.

According to the indictment, Oseguera González was responsible for shipping narcotics to the U.S. from Mexico between 2007 and 2017, and of using violence to further his criminal activities.

Since 2013, Mexican authorities were investigating a public telephone booth line and two cellphones linked with high-ranking leaders of the CJNG.

According to intelligence reports, one of the mobile lines received a call from the public booth line from a neighborhood Jardines Universidad in Zapopan, Jalisco, prompting an investigation.

The Mexican Army asked the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) branch of the Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR) to investigate the neighborhood and the two mobile lines more closely.

The Army began to dispatch undercover agents to monitor the neighborhood.

Oseguera González was first arrested in January 2014 in Jalisco, but was released in October for lack of evidence and re-arrested immediately as he walked out of prison.

He was then released again in December after a judge considered the evidence against him as insufficient.

On the evening of 29 January 2014, one of the mobile phones was located through geolocation at a neighborhood in Zapopan before it went out of service.

The Army and the Navy decided to send a Special Forces unit from Mexico City to Zapopan to investigate the incident.

At 3:30 a.m. CT on 30 January, the Special Forces unit raided a residence in neighborhood Patria Universidad and discovered Oseguera González sleeping there.

As the authorities took down the doors, Oseguera González woke up from the loud noise and jumped from his bed, ran to his backyard, and climbed the back wall to reach his neighbor's property.

However, the Special Forces unit successfully surrounded the premises and reduced Oseguera González's escape options.

He eventually submitted and was arrested in his neighbor's backyard.

Two of his henchmen surrendered at the door without resisting arrest.

Two others, who were renting a nearby house, fled on foot but were arrested too.

Oseguera González reportedly offered the officers who detained him around MXN$17 million to let him go.

Authorities confirmed that they confiscated between MXN$10 to $16 million and US$500,000 at the crime scene, as well as 4 assault rifles, 9 handguns, a grenade, and several rounds of ammunition.

Former Attorney General of Mexico Jesús Murillo Karam confirmed to the press that no gunshots were fired in the operation.

Oseguera González was flown that day to Mexico City and taken to the SEIDO, Mexico's anti-organized crime investigatory agency, where he gave his statement and was interrogated by law enforcement.

Government sources confirmed that he had no pending formal investigations or arrest warrants issued against him in Jalisco.

On 1 February, Oseguera González was taken to Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 (also known as "Altiplano"), a maximum-security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico.

In June 2015, Oseguera González was arrested again, released a month later, and re-arrested as his release order was made official.

His legal case has highlighted the growing tensions and deficiencies between prosecutors and judges in Mexico.

In 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia charged Oseguera González with international drug trafficking.

Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs approved his extradition request in 2018, and Oseguera González's motions to prevent his transfer to the U.S. have been denied.

In Mexico, he was facing trial for money laundering and illegal possession of military-exclusive firearms.

After several appeals, Oseguera González was extradited to the U.S. in February 2020.