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Chaos erupted across wide swaths of Mexico after Mexican security forces killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the brutal head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, in a military operation on February 22, 2026. The operation, which represented the biggest strike yet against the cartel that pumps fentanyl and other deadly drugs into our communities, set off coordinated reprisals — burning vehicles, roadblocks, and violent attacks that left cities like Guadalajara paralyzed.
According to official accounts, troops engaged cartel gunmen in Tapalpa, Jalisco, where men were killed and others arrested, and “El Mencho” was wounded and later died while being transported after the clash. Armored vehicles, rocket launchers and heavy weapons were among the arsenal seized, underscoring the paramilitary nature of these criminal enterprises that too often operate like terrorist groups.
The predictable fallout followed: airports disrupted, tourists stranded, and the U.S. Embassy warning Americans to shelter in place in several states as cartel thugs sought to terrorize civilians and sabotage travel hubs. This is the human cost of an open-border drug pipeline — when cartel bosses feel the pressure, they strike out at ordinary people and vital infrastructure.
U.S. officials confirmed that American intelligence aided the Mexican operation and that the U.S. had long offered a multimillion-dollar reward for information leading to his capture, a sober reminder that these kingpins are international criminals attacking our homeland. Conservatives should applaud decisive cooperation that brought a dangerous man to justice, while demanding the kind of sustained pressure that prevents any successor from simply stepping into the vacuum.
But make no mistake: killing one head does not solve the problem. The CJNG is a sprawling enterprise built on corruption, greed and the U.S. demand for drugs — especially fentanyl — that devastates American families. If Washington is serious about protecting working Americans, it must secure the border, cut off cartel profits, and stop the revolving-door policies that let traffickers exploit legal and logistical gaps to send poison into our towns.
There will be a dangerous period ahead as cartels jockey for control and retaliate; experts warn of further violence as the cartel’s fractured cells test one another and authorities, and Americans must not be lulled into complacency by a single headline victory. Our response should be to rally behind our troops and law enforcement, double down on sanctions and extraditions, and push a hard, unambiguous policy to choke cartel finances and close the routes that funnel drugs to our streets.
Patriots should demand durable results: secure borders, sustained international pressure, and relentless disruption of cartel networks until the flow of fentanyl and the terror it brings is stopped. This country owes it to grieving families and every American who plays by the rules — we must use this moment of clarity to act boldly, not bow to the tired, soft approaches that allowed the cartels to grow in the first place.
