- CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes buried March 2.
- Funeral held in Zapopan under heavy security.
- Cartel leader killed in February 22 military operation.
- Violence erupted across Mexico after his death.
Heavy military security was placed around the burial of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader in Zapopan where truckloads of nameless flowers were already dumped as well as the first narcocorrido ballads already recorded in his name.
On Monday, March 2, the 59-year-old chiefs of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel who was once among the most wanted men on earth was laid to rest in a sparkling golden coffin in the Recinto de la Paz cemetery in Zapopan, a suburb of the second-largest city in Mexico, Guadalcanal.
The funeral procession was followed by dozens of mourners who had black umbrellas and a banda band playing Mexican regional music, as the sky was clear. The flower wreaths had to be delivered to the cemetery by five trucks, which means that they were anonymous, and had been delivered to a funeral home in the days before the burial.
Some of them contained a rooster painted in flowers, a reference to the title the Lord of the Roosters which is the nickname of El Mencho. The Office of the Attorney General refused to publicly release the location of the burial out of security considerations but a federal official released the information on the record to the AP under anonymity.
$15 Million US Reward Never Claimed
On around February 22, Mexican special forces followed El Mencho to a hide out at a home in a private house at Tapalpa, Jalisco, where he was killed by the special forces. The head of the cartel and two of his bodyguards suffered severe injuries in a gun battle with the troops outside the premise as reported by the defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla.
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The three were killed as they were heading to a hospital. A death certificate that was issued by the AP confirmed that Oseguera Cervantes was shot in the chest, abdomen and legs. On Saturday, his body was finally released to his family after being taken to Mexico City where it was taken to an autopsy.
A reward of 15 million dollars was provided by the US government on information that would lead to his attack, and the Trump administration had formally declared the Jalisco New Generation Cartel a foreign terrorist network earlier this year.
Retaliation After Cartel Killing in Mexico: 70 Dead, 20 States in Chaos
The murder instantly initiated revenge violence that covered 20 states in Mexico. The members of the cartels burned cars, destroyed highways, and incinerated companies in Jalisco and elsewhere. The Puerto Vallarta tourists have been advised to remain in their shelters as gunshots erupted in the resort city.
There were over 70 military casualties and violence that ensued after the military operation. The funeral alerted the Mexican authorities, which sent security officers in the area to avert another outburst, and the government affirmed that Operation against other senior cartel leaders was on.
Narcocorridos, Missing Bodies and Stolen Corpses: Mythology of Mexico
Even days later as El Mencho died, ballads called narcocorridos were already being promoted online in his honour a ritualisation of him into legend, which is the one adopted after the death of big cartel leaders in Mexico.
His translators treated his burial with modesty, by the accounts of some of his predecessors. Luxury tombs and mausoleums in Culiacan, Sinaloa are used to honor the memory of past kingpins like Arturo Beltran Leyva and Ignacio Coronel, a longtime partner of El Mencho. The mythology of these characters is deep: official killing of the Knights Templar leader Nazario Moreno took place in 2010 but in 2014 the man was killed then again.
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In 2012, the body of a leader of Zetas was stolen, that of Heriberto Lazcano. This is because Mexican officials warned that the death of El Mencho might now trigger a short-term leadership struggle in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as its members seek to fill the vacuum created by the late leader.
