In her morning press conference from the National Palace, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo directly responded to a question about the operation that ended the life of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The president clarified that she did not personally instruct the arrest and emphasized that her government operates under a strictly judicial framework, far removed from the practices that characterized the so-called “war on drugs” in previous administrations.Claudia Sheinbaum boasts that she did not order the a
Claudia Sheinbaum presume que ella no ordenó la detención de “El Mencho” y critica que antes los presidentes ordenaban capturar o ejecutar capos.
Quizá sonaba muy bien… pero en realidad solo terminó confesando algo gravísimo que ya sabíamos: que el gobierno no está… pic.twitter.com/1BKvgMXrlx
— El Pelado De La TV (@peladodelatv) March 13, 2026
“It is not a matter of who gives the order. Unlike —pay attention— the past, these are arrest warrants issued by a judge. Why do I say unlike the past? Because in the past, outside the law, execution orders were issued. That was the war on drugs.
The then Secretary of Security or the then president made decisions to go after a criminal and execute him. We do not,” Sheinbaum declared verbatim.She added that the case of El Mencho involved “investigations of months and months and months” and support from U.S. intelligence, without anyone giving a direct instruction like “there he is, go get him.” “None of us gave the order.
Don’t believe that overnight someone told them where El Mencho was,” she insisted in a tone that raised questions about effective leadership on security matters.
The operation took place on February 22, 2026, in Tapalpa, Jalisco. Elements of the Mexican Army’s Special Forces and the National Guard, with binational intelligence, located Oseguera Cervantes after prolonged surveillance.
During the confrontation, El Mencho was wounded and died while being transferred to Mexico City. Official sources confirmed that it was an action based on prior judicial orders issued by the Attorney General’s Office, not on a presidential directive for immediate capture or execution.
This admission by Sheinbaum highlights the philosophy of her administration: rejecting any action that could be interpreted as extrajudicial. The contrast with previous governments is explicit in her words, where she describes those tactics as “outside the law.”
This stance reflects the continuity of a containment and legalistic strategy that prioritizes judicial processes over immediate results against the most dangerous capos, even when the CJNG represents one of the greatest threats to the country due to its firepower and territorial expansion.
The neutralization of El Mencho, one of the most wanted criminals internationally, was possible thanks to the work of the Mexican armed forces. However, the president’s statements seek to distance the Executive leadership from any direct responsibility in the operational decision, insisting that “the Secretariat of National Defense participates, but it is not that someone gave the order: ‘now detain this one.’”
This narrative reinforces the idea of a government that avoids direct confrontations with organized crime and prefers to delegate to judges and lengthy investigations, which, from a critical perspective, weakens the deterrent capacity against cartels that operate with impunity in entire regions.
We had previously reported this in Gateway Hispanic, where it was detailed how the Mexican Army, with U.S. intelligence support, neutralized the CJNG leader in that precision operation.
Sheinbaum’s statements confirm that, under her mandate, Mexico will not return to the policies of direct capture or elimination of capos that marked other administrations.
The message is clear: her government does not issue or support orders of that kind. This leaves open the question about the real effectiveness of a strategy that, despite the specific success of February 22, bets on the judicial system instead of decisive action against drug trafficking.
About The Author
Joana Campos
Joana Campos es abogada y editora con más de 10 años de experiencia en la gestión de proyectos de desarrollo internacional, enfocada en la sostenibilidad y el impacto social positivo. Anteriormente, trabajó como abogada corporativa. Egresada de la Universidad de Guadalajara.
