So, they finally secured the **El Mencho arrest**. The big bad wolf. The guy we were all supposed to be afraid of this week. The Mexican police finally put the cuffs on **Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes**, the ruthless leader running the **CJNG cartel**. Everyone is celebrating. The politicians are shaking hands. The news anchors are putting on their serious faces. They want you to think the world is safe now. They want you to think the bad guys are gone.

Don't be an idiot. Nothing has changed.

Here is the funny part. The part that really makes you wonder why we spend so much money on the surveillance state. They didn't catch him because they were smarter. They didn't catch him with some high-tech laser from space. They caught him because he had a girlfriend. That's it. **CIA intelligence** helped the Mexican cops track a romantic partner to locate the fugitive.

Think about that for a second. The Central Intelligence Agency. The people who are supposed to be protecting the free world. Their big move was acting like a jealous ex-boyfriend. They watched a woman. They followed her around. They probably read her texts and listened to her phone calls. And because the big bad drug lord wanted a date, he got caught.

It is almost sad. You have this guy running a billion-dollar empire. He has guns. He has money. He has power. But he gets taken down because he couldn't stay single. It is the oldest story in the book. It is a cliché. If you saw this in a movie, you would walk out. You would say the writing was lazy. But this is real life, and real life is always stupid.

Let’s talk about the CIA for a minute. These guys love to get involved. They love to whisper in the ears of other governments. They provided the "intelligence." That is a fancy word for gossip. They handed over the info, and the Mexican authorities did the heavy lifting. The Americans get to pat themselves on the back without getting their boots dirty. It is classic behavior. They want the credit, but they don't want the risk.

And what happens next? Do you think the cartel just packs up and goes home? Do you think the drug trade stops? Of course not. This isn't a fairy tale. When you cut off the head of a snake, another one grows back. Actually, usually two grow back, and they are meaner than the first one.

Somewhere in Mexico, right now, there is a guy waiting. He has been waiting for this moment. He is probably smiling. He just got a promotion. El Mencho is gone, so now El Something-Else takes over. The drugs will keep moving north. The guns will keep moving south. The money will keep flowing. Nothing changes except the name on the Wanted poster.

But the government needs this. They need to show you a win. They need you to believe that the War on Drugs is working. They spent billions of your tax dollars to chase this guy. They need to justify the cost. So they parade him in front of the cameras. They tell you he was a monster. They tell you that you are safer now.

It is all a show. It is theater for ugly people.

The Right will say this proves we need more walls and more guns. They will scream about the border and say we need to be tougher. The Left will say this proves that international cooperation works and we need more talks and handshakes. Both of them are wrong. Both of them are missing the point. The point is that people want drugs, and other people want money. As long as that is true, catching one guy doesn't matter.

It is just a cycle. A boring, expensive cycle. We pay for the cops. We pay for the prisons. We pay for the spies to stalk girlfriends. And the price of everything keeps going up.

The saddest part is the lack of dignity in it all. There is no honor among thieves, and there is no class among spies. It is just a bunch of people rolling around in the mud. The bad guy got caught because he was lonely. The good guys won because they were creeps.

So go ahead. Clap for the news. Cheer for the CIA. Pretend that the world is a better place today than it was yesterday. But don't be surprised when you turn on the TV next month and see the exact same story with a different name. The game is rigged. The players are idiots. And we are the ones paying for the tickets to watch.

It makes you tired, doesn't it? It should. Because while they were busy tracking a girlfriend to catch a kingpin, your rent went up, your roads got worse, and the world got a little bit dumber. But hey, at least they got El Mencho. That will surely fix everything. Right? Don't hold your breath.

### References & Fact-Check * **Primary Source:** [C.I.A. Intelligence Helped Lead Mexican Authorities to ‘El Mencho’ (NY Times)](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/world/americas/cia-el-hencho-location-mexico.html) - This article confirms the capture of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and the pivotal role of U.S. intelligence in tracking his partner. * **Context:** The **CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel)** remains a primary target for the Drug Enforcement Administration and international authorities.