Nemesio Ruben Oseguera, popularly known as El Mencho, was killed on February 22, 2026, in the district of Jalisco, in an operation by the Mexican security forces.
The US embassy in Mexico said that the DEA and Northcom supported the operations against El Mancho by providing intelligence to the Mexican security forces.
The former cop who turned to a drug lord was the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC), and his death was considered to be a major blow to the drug trafficking network in Mexico.
He reportedly had enormous wealth, and his organisation had massive economic power
The US and Mexican authorities have a bounty of $15 million for him, or for any information that might lead to his capture, making him one of the most wanted criminals in the US and Mexico.
In 2019, a report by Univision suggested that the DEA and Mexican authorities had seized luxurious cabins built in the Mexican Pacific, more than 100 Japanese restaurants, shopping malls, newspapers, real estate companies, a tequila brand, gold bars with which they laundered money, and even a ranch where there were exotic animals, including a Bengal tiger and endangered birds.
But authorities suggest these are only a fraction of his massive wealth.
The precise net worth of El Mencho is not known. However, various sources and investigations have provided an approximate range of his wealth.
The 2019 report by the DEA suggested that El Mecnho’s fortune could exceed $1 billion, based on the drug trafficking profits, money laundering and assets linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel: “he has at least $500 million and could be worth more than $1 billion.”
However, the Cartel’s assets are considered to be in the tens of billions of dollars, based on the wide scale of operations in cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and other illicit businesses.
A specific estimation can not be made due to the opaque nature of the business, hidden revenue, and clandestine financial structure.