By Lizbeth Diaz
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The brother of Nemesio Oseguera, one of Mexico’s most wanted drug runners, was arrested by Mexican authorities Tuesday morning in the state of Jalisco, representing a blow to the cartel, officials said.
Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, brother of Nemesio, was captured in a town on the outskirts of Guadalajara in a joint operation with the army, national guard and other authorities, the armed forces said in a statement.
Oseguera was detained in the early morning and was taken to a detention center, according to Mexico’s security ministry.
Nemesio Oseguera is the head of the violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) group and arguably the most-wanted kingpin in all of Mexico. In 2018, a $10 million bounty was placed on his head by U.S. authorities.
Also known as “El Mencho,” he is one of the few long-term cartel leaders in Mexico to have evaded capture while leading the gang’s continent-spanning empire.
Mexican authorities accused Antonio Oseguera on Tuesday of being the “logisitic operator” behind the cartel’s activities, engaging in money laundering and purchasing massive amounts of weapons. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2016 for his alleged involvement with the cartel.
The CJNG is accused of smuggling massive quantities of drugs, increasingly including the synthetic opioid fentanyl, into the United States. More than 71,000 people died from synthetic opioid-related overdoses in 2021, according to U.S. data.
Nemesio Oseguera’s wife was arrested last year for a slew of crimes related to the cartel. His daughter pleaded guilty in a U.S. court to carrying out business transactions for the cartel in 2020.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Kylie Madry; Editing by Alistair Bell)
