The U.S. Department of State is determined to bring down Mexico’s most notorious drug lords and is offering substantial rewards to achieve this goal.
On December 4, the agency announced it was increasing the bounty for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes (“El Mencho”), the alleged leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), from US$10 million to US$15 million.
The CJNG is considered Mexico’s most powerful and violent criminal organization. Under Oseguera Cervantes’ leadership, the cartel has been implicated in some of Mexico’s most brutal violence, including targeted assassinations of government officials, rival cartel members, and innocent civilians.
Additionally, the State Department’s Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) offers bounties for other alleged Mexican drug lords, totaling approximately US$142 million.
These include: Rafael Caro Quintero (US$20 million), Iván Archivaldo Guzmán-Salazar (US$10 million), Jesús Alfredo Guzmán-Salazar (US$10 million) and Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales (US$5 million).
The Mexican government believes 58-year-old Oseguera Cervantes is most likely hiding somewhere in Jalisco, the CJNG’s primary stronghold. Authorities believe he frequently changes locations, moving across several municipalities and into the neighboring states of Michoacán, Colima and Nayarit. Oseguera Cervantes is believed to have an elite-trained bodyguard team composed of former military officers.
Largest rewards
The largest reward ever offered by U.S. authorities for information leading to the arrest of a criminal is US$25 million, which was announced for the capture of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This reward was offered under the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program.
In addition to bin Laden, the same amount, US$25 million, was later also offered for information leading to the capture of Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s successor as the leader of al-Qaeda.