'El Mencho' becomes world's most wanted drug lord

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, 'El Mencho' was named the most-wanted drug kingpin in North America after Mexican authorities and the U.S. State Department put a combined $6.5m bounty for the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel. The CJNG has proven to be more ruthless and better organized than the Sinaloa cartel in recent years. They function like a paramilitary organization and rule with an iron hand in Jalisco. In May 2015, El Mencho, now 52, ordered a series of attacks against security forces in Jalisco. An ambush of a police convoy killed 15 officers.

The group blocked highways with buses and trucks and fire bombed gas stations and banks. Cartel members also used rocket-propelled grenades to fire on a military helicopter, killing nine soldiers.

Oseguera is the most powerful figure on the loose, having eluded capture for nearly a decade. The CJNG has launched shows of strength across western Jalisco state by blocking roads with hijacked vehicles every time federal forces close in on its leader. The cartel has earned notoriety for its willingness to confront state forces in open battle.