2026年2月23日 / 美国东部时间上午7:05 / CBS/法新社
周日，强大的哈利斯科新一代卡特尔（CJNG）头目在军事交火中被击毙，其悬赏1500万美元，消息传出后，暴力席卷墨西哥。
一名美国国防官员告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻（CBS News），美国军方通过联合跨机构反卡特尔特遣部队（Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel）参与了行动，以清除内梅西奥·鲁文·奥塞古拉·塞万提斯（Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes）——也被称为“El Mencho”。该特遣部队通过美国北方司令部（U.S. Northern Command）与墨西哥军方定期合作。这位官员强调：“这是一次墨西哥军方行动，所以成功归功于他们。”
“El Mencho”死亡的消息引发了全国各地卡特尔成员的行动：封锁道路、焚烧车辆和企业，并将恐惧的居民逼入躲藏。
以下是CJNG庞大势力及其在“El Mencho”掌权后的未来展望。
CJNG是什么？
奥塞古拉是CJNG的创始成员之一，该组织成立于2009年，现已发展成为墨西哥最暴力的贩毒集团之一，势力超过锡那罗亚卡特尔。据司法部称，他与埃里科·瓦伦西亚·萨拉扎（Érick Valencia Salazar，别名“El 85”）共同创立了哈利斯科新一代卡特尔，后者于去年2月被列入美国拘留名单，是29名被通缉的卡特尔头目之一。
美国国务院表示，该卡特尔拥有墨西哥“最高的可卡因、海洛因和甲基苯丙胺贩运能力”，过去几年开始将芬太尼输送到美国。
危机集团分析中心专家大卫·莫拉（David Mora）告诉法新社：“就军事能力、招募能力和武器装备而言，它无疑是墨西哥最强大的组织之一。”
除贩毒外，美国缉毒局（DEA）报告称，CJNG的业务还扩展到其他犯罪活动，如勒索、燃油盗窃和人口贩卖。
莫拉表示，CJNG的特点是“不断挑战墨西哥政府的意愿”。
为展示实力，该卡特尔经常发布其成员炫耀武器和装甲车的照片。
2020年，该卡特尔被指控企图暗杀墨西哥公共安全部长奥马尔·加西亚·哈富赫（Omar Garcia Harfuch），当时他担任首都警察局长。
去年，该组织还被指控杀害了乌鲁阿潘市市长卡洛斯·曼佐（Carlos Manzo），后者是墨西哥著名的打击有组织犯罪的斗士。
曼佐的死亡引发了11月持续两天的青年领导的示威活动，抗议者焚烧公共建筑并与警方发生冲突，造成100多人受伤。
卡特尔为何反应如此激烈？
专家称，奥塞古拉死亡后的反应反映了该卡特尔在墨西哥的深远影响力。
这位强大毒枭的被杀引发了哈利斯科州和其他州数小时的路障，车辆被焚烧。墨西哥总统克劳迪娅·谢因鲍姆（Claudia Sheinbaum）在社交媒体上承认了路障的存在，但强调：“在全国大部分地区，活动仍在完全正常地进行。”
暴力席卷了度假城市巴亚尔塔港、首都附近的米却肯州、中部墨西哥的普埃布拉州、瓜纳华托州、西北部的锡那罗亚州以及南部的格雷罗州。
莫拉说：“我们今天看到的只是（卡特尔）活动区域和他们能够传播暴力的地方的一次示威。”
美国国务院发布安全警报，建议美国公民在包括哈利斯科州、塔毛利帕斯州、米却肯州、格雷罗州和新莱昂州在内的几个墨西哥州内就地避难，直至另行通知。国务院领事事务局在社交媒体上告知美国公民继续就地避难，称巴亚尔塔港的出租车和网约车服务已暂停。
安全分析师赫拉尔多·罗德里格斯（Gerardo Rodriguez）告诉法新社，当局预料到了反应，但没想到会有如此“全国性的影响”。
军方在一份声明中表示，奥塞古拉在哈利斯科州塔帕利亚镇与士兵的冲突中受伤，在被送往墨西哥城的途中死亡。
罗德里格斯说：“在作战战术方面，这是政府的一次非常成功的行动。”
卡特尔的未来将如何？
奥塞古拉是自锡那罗亚卡特尔创始人华金·“矮子”·古斯曼（Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán）和伊斯梅尔·“ Mayo”·赞巴达（Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada）被捕以来，被逮捕的最大墨西哥毒枭之一。两人目前均在美国服刑。
2019年，美国缉毒局驻墨西哥最高特工马修·多纳休（Matthew Donahue）告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，奥塞古拉是“美国缉毒局和联邦执法部门的首要目标”。
前美国缉毒局国际行动主管迈克·维吉尔（Mike Vigil）告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，这次军事行动是“毒品走私历史上采取的最重要行动之一”。
他补充道：“我们谈论的是一个几乎与华金·‘矮子’·古斯曼和伊斯梅尔·‘Mayo’·赞巴达处于同一级别的人。（奥塞古拉）是全球毒品走私历史上最大的毒枭之一。”
与此同时，奥塞古拉35岁的儿子鲁本·“El Menchito”·奥塞古拉·冈萨雷斯（Ruben “El Menchito” Oseguera Gonzalez）于9月在华盛顿被联邦陪审团判定犯有多项贩毒和枪支指控。
莫拉表示：“由于没有直接的继任者，权力真空将导致组织内部暴力重组。”
专家指出，例如，锡那罗亚卡特尔的衰弱导致了CJNG的崛起。
美国已将CJNG列为恐怖组织，并指控其向美国输送可卡因、海洛因、甲基苯丙胺和芬太尼。
目前尚不清楚谁将接替奥塞古拉·塞万提斯，或者是否有人能接替。
根据美国缉毒局的数据，哈利斯科卡特尔在墨西哥32个州中的至少21个州都有存在，并且在几乎所有美国地区都有活动。但它也是一个全球性组织，其领导人的损失可能会在墨西哥以外地区产生深远影响。
维吉尔说：“‘El Mencho’控制一切，他就像一个国家的独裁者。”
他的缺席可能会减缓卡特尔的快速增长和扩张，并使其在初期在几个方面（他们或其代理人正在战斗的地方）相对于锡那罗亚卡特尔处于弱势。然而，锡那罗亚卡特尔自身也陷入了“矮子”的儿子们与忠于被美国拘留的伊斯梅尔·“Mayo”·赞巴达的派系之间的内部权力斗争。
维吉尔表示，墨西哥应该抓住机会，“基于情报发起有效的正面攻击”。
他说：“如果墨西哥和美国共同努力，这对两国来说都是一个重大机会。”
本文报道由相关人士撰写。
The notorious cartel leader “El Mencho” is dead. What does the future hold for the powerful CJNG?
February 23, 2026 / 7:05 AM EST / CBS/AFP
Violence swept across Mexico Sunday after the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), who had a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, was killed in a military shootout.
A U.S. defense official told CBS News the U.S. military played a role in the operation to take out Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes — also known as “El Mencho” — via the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which regularly works with the Mexican military through the U.S. Northern Command. The official emphasized that “this was a Mexican military operation, so the success is theirs.”
News of the death of “El Mencho” triggered cartel members across the country to block roads, torch vehicles and businesses and send fearful residents into hiding.
Here is a look at the sprawling power of CJNG and its future without “El Mencho” at the helm.
What is CJNG?
Oseguera is a founding member of CJNG, which was formed in 2009 and has grown into one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico, ahead of the Sinaloa cartel. He helped co-found the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with Érick Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” who was among 29 wanted cartel leaders taken into U.S. custody last February, according to the Justice Department.
The U.S. State Department said that the cartel has the “highest cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine trafficking capacity in Mexico,” and over the past few years, has started to funnel fentanyl into the United States.
“It is certainly one of the most powerful organizations in Mexico in terms of military capacity, recruitment capability and weaponry,” David Mora, an expert at the Crisis Group analysis center, told AFP.
A U.S. wanted poster for Nemesio Ruben Oseguera-Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
Apart from drug trafficking, the CJNG’s operation expanded into other criminal enterprises such as extortion, fuel theft and human trafficking, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported.
The CJNG is characterized by its “constant willingness to challenge the Mexican government,” Mora said.
In a show of power, the cartel frequently releases images of its members showing off weapons and armored vehicles.
In 2020, the cartel was accused of the attempted assassination of Mexico’s public security secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch, who at the time was serving as police chief in the capital.
Last year, it was also accused of killing Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo, a known crusader against organized crime in Mexico.
Manzo’s death sparked two days of youth-led demonstrations in November, with protesters setting fire to public buildings and clashing with police, resulting in over 100 injuries.
Why did the cartel react so violently?
The reaction that followed Oseguera’s death reflects the cartel’s far-reaching power in Mexico, experts said.
The killing of the powerful drug lord triggered several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, on social media, acknowledged the roadblocks but stressed, “In the vast majority of the national territory, activities are proceeding with complete normality.”
Violence gripped the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, the state of Michoacan near the capital, and the states of Puebla, Guanajuato in central Mexico, Sinaloa in the northwest and south into Guerrero.
“What we saw today is just a demonstration of the places where (the cartel) operate and where they can spread violence,” Mora said.
A bus set on fire by organized crime groups burns at one of the main avenues in Zapopan, state of Jalisco, Mexico, on February 22, 2026. Ulises Ruiz /AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. State Department released a security alert advising American citizens in several Mexican states, including Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon, to shelter in place until further notice. The Department of State Consular Affairs, in a message telling U.S. citizens to continue sheltering in place, said on social media that taxi and rideshare service had been suspended in Puerto Vallarta.
Security analyst Gerardo Rodriguez told AFP that authorities had anticipated a reaction, but did not expect such a “national reach.”
Oseguera was wounded in a clash with soldiers in the town of Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, and died while being flown to Mexico City, the military said in a statement.
“In operational tactical terms, it is a very successful operation by the government,” Rodriguez said.
What is the future of the cartel?
Oseguera is one of the biggest Mexican drug lords to be taken down since the capture of the founders of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Both are now serving time in the United States.
Oseguera was “the number one priority for DEA and frankly for federal law enforcement in the United States,” Matthew Donahue, the DEA’s top agent in Mexico, told CBS News in 2019.
Mike Vigil, former DEA Chief of International Operations, told CBS News that the military operation was “one of the most significant actions undertaken in the history of drug trafficking.”
“Because we’re talking about someone that is almost at the same level as “El Chapo” Guzman and “El Mayo” Zambada,” he added. “(Oseguera) is one of the biggest drug capos in the history of drug trafficking around the globe.”
Meanwhile, Ruben “El Menchito” Oseguera Gonzalez, 35, Oseguera’s son, was convicted by a federal jury in Washington in September of multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Mora said that “in the absence of a direct succession, a power vacuum is created that opens the door to violent realignments within the organization.”
It was the weakening of the Sinaloa cartel, for example, that led to CJNG’s rise in prominence, experts noted.
The United States has classified CJNG as a terrorist organization and accuses it of sending cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States.
It’s not clear who will succeed Oseguera Cervantes, or if any one person can.
The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico’s 32 states and is active in almost all of the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. But it is also a global organization and the loss of its leader could be felt well beyond Mexico.
“El Mencho controlled everything, he was like a country’s dictator,” Vigil said.
His absence could slow the cartel’s rapid growth and expansion and leave it initially weakened against the Sinaloa cartel on several fronts where they or their proxies are fighting. The Sinaloa is locked in its own internal power struggle, however, between the sons of “El Chapo” and the faction loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is in U.S. custody.
Vigil said Mexico should seize the moment to launch “an effective frontal assault based on intelligence.”
“This is a big opportunity for Mexico and the United States if they work together,” he said.
contributed to this report.
