Who is 'El Mencho', his cartel and why does his death matter?

Briana Lupea

One of Mexico's most notorious drug lords "El Mencho" was killed in a military operation on Sunday in Tapalpa, sparking widespread retaliatory violence. The 59-year-old, whose real name was Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes , was originally from the western state of Michoacan and had been heavily involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s. He previously spent almost three years in a US prison after being convicted in 1994 of conspiracy to distribute heroin by a court in California. After his