So, they finally got him. The big bad wolf is down. **Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes**, known globally as **El Mencho**, is dead. The man who ran the **Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)** has been neutralized. The Mexican authorities are taking a victory lap, optimizing their press releases for maximum engagement. They want you to think they saved the day. They want a gold star. But let's look at the price tag on this little party. According to the officials, at least sixty-two people died in the raid and the mess that followed. Sixty-two.

That is not a surgical operation. That is not justice. That is a meat grinder. That is a bus full of people who aren't going home. And for what? So one **cartel boss** can be replaced by another? Because that is exactly what is going to happen in the resulting **power vacuum**. Actually, it is already happening while you read this.

Let's be real about what happened here. The government went in heavy. They wanted a trophy to boost their approval ratings. They wanted to show the world they are tough on **drug trafficking**. Well, they got their trophy. They got the head of the snake. But in the process, they turned the streets into a war zone. Dozens of people are dead. And do you think the drug trade stopped for even five minutes? No. The drugs are still moving. The money is still flowing. The only difference is that now there are sixty-two fresh graves to dig.

This is the problem with how governments handle these things. They treat it like a movie. They think if you kill the main villain, the credits roll and everyone lives happily ever after. But real life isn't a movie. It's a business. A dirty, bloody, awful business. And when the CEO of a company dies, the company doesn't close down. The board of directors just picks a new guy. Usually, they pick the guy who is the meanest, the hungriest, and the most violent. That is what we are looking at now. We traded one monster for three or four smaller monsters who are all fighting for the crown.

Think about the violence that followed the raid. That wasn't an accident. That was the predicted outcome of destabilizing a major criminal organization. When you take out the top dog, every other dog in the pack starts biting to see who is in charge. The authorities knew this would happen. They knew people would die. They did it anyway. Why? Because it looks good on the news. It looks like a win. It looks like they are doing something.

It is all a performance. The politicians get to stand behind a podium and talk about "law and order." They get to act like heroes. Meanwhile, the people in those towns are hiding under their beds while the bullets fly. The politicians don't care about the sixty-two dead bodies. To them, those people are just the cost of doing business. They are acceptable losses. It is disgusting. It is cynical. And it is exactly what I expect from people in power.

And don't think you are innocent in this, either. Yes, you. The people up north. The Americans. The Europeans. The people who demand the product. **El Mencho** didn't become a billionaire by magic. He got rich because millions of people want to get high on the weekend. You want your party favors, but you don't want to see the blood on the wrapper. You create the demand. You throw money at these organizations. And then you act shocked when people die fighting over that money.

We have seen this show before. We saw it with **Pablo Escobar**. We saw it with **El Chapo**. Now we see it with El Mencho. The names change, but the story stays the same. A Kingpin falls. The government celebrates. The bodies pile up. A new Kingpin rises. The drugs keep moving. It is a hamster wheel of death. We are running in circles and getting nowhere.

So, go ahead. Cheer for the "successful operation." Pat the authorities on the back. Pretend that the world is safer today than it was yesterday. But deep down, you know the truth. Nothing has changed. We just traded one problem for a bloodier, messier problem. And sixty-two people paid for that trade with their lives. The system isn't fixed. It is working exactly how it was designed to work. It grinds up poor people and spits out cash for the wicked. And nobody in charge has the guts or the brains to stop it.

***

### References & Fact-Check * **Primary Source**: [Live Updates: Operation That Killed Cartel Boss Left Dozens Dead](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/23/world/mexico), *The New York Times*, Feb 23, 2026. * **Context**: Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho") was the identified leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). * **Casualty Verification**: Official reports confirm a death toll of at least 62 individuals following the raid.