Mexican authorities have apprehended a suspected drug cartel member who played a key role in the military siege that led to the death of drug lord Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” in February 2026, the Secretariat of National Defense (DEFENSA) said March 15. Special forces Soldiers from the Mexican Army and the National Guard arrested Jose N, nicknamed “El Pepe,” who drove Oseguera’s mistress to a luxury villa in the town of Tapalpa in Jalisco to meet with him, DEFENSA said in a news release.
Oseguera, who led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed in a raid by elite Mexican Soldiers on February 22 after he was spotted with the woman in a country club in the western state of Jalisco. Military intelligence had tracked down Osguera after finding out about the rendezvous, and the Army operation was executed in coordination with the Mexican National Guard and Air Force.
Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said the exact location was confirmed by “very important additional information” provided by United States intelligence. Authorities said later that the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel had provided intelligence in support of the mission. In the days leading up to the raid, a Predator surveillance drone flew at 6,100 meters over Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco, pinpointing Oseguera’s location, the Los Angeles Times newspaper reported.
While most Mexican drug lords rarely sleep in the same place twice to try to evade the military, Oseguera had late-stage kidney disease and needed dialysis every day, which restricted his ability to travel, people familiar with his activity told the Times. He had hosted a party at his home the night before the raid, so his security team was not on high alert, the Times said.
Oseguera was Mexico’s most wanted man, and the U.S. had a $15 million bounty on him. In President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on February 25, days after Oseguera’s death, Trump said the U.S. had “taken down one of the most sinister cartel kingpins of all.”
El Pepe was viewed as one of the CJNG’s main logistics operatives and was captured “during ground patrols” in Tlajomulco, Jalisco, on March 15. “Drugs, weapons and a vehicle were seized from the detainee,” DEFENSA said in the news release.