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Guadalajara Sees High-Security Burial for Cartel Leader “El Mencho”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, widely known as “El Mencho,” was laid to rest on Monday in a highly secure funeral procession that underscored the power and mystique surrounding Mexico’s most notorious drug lords.
The burial took place in a cemetery in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city. A federal official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information, confirmed the location. The Attorney General’s Office further declined to confirm the burial site, citing “security reasons.”
The elaborate funeral procession featured a gleaming golden casket adorned with massive floral wreaths, some notably featuring the image of a rooster-a nod to Oseguera Cervantes’ moniker, “Lord of the Roosters.” Dozens of mourners, many shielding themselves from the sunny day with black umbrellas, accompanied the hearse while a band played traditional Mexican regional music, known as banda. A significant military presence was observed throughout the area, reflecting heightened security measures that had been in place around a local funeral home since Sunday, where the anonymous floral tributes had been arriving.
Oseguera Cervantes’ death occurred just over a week ago during a military operation to apprehend him. According to the death certificate obtained by The Associated Press, he sustained multiple bullet wounds to his chest, abdomen, and legs.
This aligns with Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla’s account, detailing a shootout between Oseguera Cervantes, two bodyguards, and soldiers outside a home in Tapalpa, Jalisco. All three individuals died en route to the hospital.
Following an autopsy conducted in Mexico City, Oseguera Cervantes’ body was released to his family on Saturday. The death certificate also stipulated that the body was to be buried, a standard procedure in violent death cases to preserve forensic evidence for potential future investigations.
Authorities’ concerns regarding the burial location are well-founded, given the retaliatory violence that erupted in approximately 20 states following Oseguera Cervantes’ death. Over 70 lives were lost in the aftermath of the military operation and the subsequent cartel violence. The government has stated that security operations targeting other high-ranking CJNG members are ongoing.
The burials of drug lords in Mexico often carry an air of secrecy, which their supporters frequently leverage to cultivate a legendary status. Within hours of El Mencho’s demise, “narcocorridos”-ballads celebrating drug traffickers-were already circulating about his killing. This phenomenon is not new; cemeteries like the one in Culiacán, Sinaloa, are renowned for their opulent crypts and mausoleums dedicated to past kingpins, including Ignacio Coronel, an associate of El Mencho, and Arturo Beltrán Leyva.
The history of Mexican drug lords is rife with unusual circumstances surrounding their deaths and burials. Nazario Moreno, leader of the Knights Templar cartel, was famously reported dead in 2010 only to be definitively killed in 2014.
The body of Heriberto Lazcano, leader of the Zetas, was stolen in 2012, while Amado Carrillo Fuentes, “Lord of the Skies,” died during a botched plastic surgery procedure. These tales contribute to the enduring mystique surrounding figures like “El Mencho.”