El Mencho, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, was the leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most powerful narcotic organizations in Mexico, which has been in Jalisco since 2010. He was captured on Feb. 22 by Mexican forces and died later that day from injuries he sustained during the operation, according to Al Jazeera, an international news network.
According to the Department of National Intelligence, CJNG carries responsibility for manufacturing and distributing a significant portion of fentanyl and other illicit drugs throughout Mexico and the United States. It mainly operates in the central-western states of Mexico, including Jalisco and Michoacán.
Sofy Guarneros, a second-year political science major at Point Loma Nazarene University, walked out of a political science class last week when she got a call from her mom.
Guarneros, an international student from Mexico City, has a deep love for her country. She described Mexicans as resilient people and pointed out the way that she has seen her community come together after natural disasters and national emergencies.
“I couldn’t be prouder to be born and raised in Mexico,” Guarneros said. “We just have a really amazing sense of culture and unity … we’re always there for each other.”
Instead of the usual check-in, this time, her mom was calling with breaking news.
“They had captured El Mencho — and I was so shocked,” Guarneros said. “To an extent, there was a sense of relief.”
The news of his capture and subsequent death spread quickly through Guarneros’ social circles. She said all of her texts and group chats were buzzing with the news and reactions that carried the complicated reality of the situation.
“I cannot even put it in words,” she said. “Even though he’s dead — you wouldn’t ever want someone to be dead — but in this case it is just so different.”
She sees both the uncertainty and the relief that the death of El Mencho brought.
“This was a victory for Mexico,” she said. “But this is not the end.”
After the capture and death of El Mencho, videos and images of the violence spread across the globe. There were images of broken windows, burned cars and buses and chaos at the Guadalajara International Airport that flooded the internet. Some of it was real, but others were AI and were shared across social media tens of thousands of times, according to Reuters.
Jeff Jiménez, the director of Border Engagement Ministries at PLNU, said that the misinformation has caused many unknowns in the Mexican and PLNU communities.
“We recognized that significant media attention and misinformation created an environment of uncertainty in our community,” Jiménez said in an email interview.
Guarneros said that the violence was scary, but that she felt it was taken out of proportion by the news coverage.
“You will always see channel news try to make things bigger than they are; they will always point the camera at the car on fire,” Guarneros said.
Rosco Williamson, a political science professor at PLNU, said that drug organizations are territorial and that when a leader of one is eliminated, other organizations start fighting for its place. He said that taking away one leader will not eliminate the drug problem.
“This doesn’t stop the flow of drugs,” Williamson said. “It will just change who’s doing it.”
The ripple effects of this event were felt on PLNU’s campus beyond international students like Guarneros.
PLNU’s Ministry with Mexico was planning on sending trips across the border this weekend. However, iménez said that out of caution, the group decided to postpone their trip.
“We felt that postponing was the most prudent way to honor our commitment to student safety while allowing the situation on the ground to stabilize,” he said.
Guarneros said that in her political science classes, she has researched El Mencho, CJNG and narcotic organizations. With that and her lived experience in Mexico, she said she believes that it is important to be aware of what is happening in the near future.
“The next 60 days will be really important because right now we don’t know who is going to take his place,” Guarneros said. “If we [Mexico] … don’t start dismantling the whole organization, his whole capture will mean absolutely nothing.”
Olivia Roberts 
Ava Bailey-Klugh