Three National Guard Members Killed in Operation Against ‘El Mencho’ Honored at Funeral

Mexico City — Three National Guard members killed during a major operation against drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” were honored at a funeral ceremony at the Mexican Defense Ministry complex on Tuesday.

Family members and colleagues gathered at the military funeral home to pay their final respects to the fallen officers, who died during violent clashes linked to the operation in Jalisco state. The three were honored overnight and formally bid farewell this morning.

“Final farewell to the National Guard elements, fallen in the operation where Mexican Army elements took down El Mencho,” read a post on the social media account Foro Militar México.

During the ceremony, family members received a Mexican flag and a recognition for the fallen officer.

The deaths occurred as part of broader violence across approximately 20 states where members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) attacked security forces. In a press conference on Monday, Citizen Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch reported that 25 National Guard members died in these attacks, though he did not specify locations or circumstances for all deaths.

According to police reports, at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, a group of National Guard members was attacked by a convoy of armed individuals.

Among the deceased was Captain Leonel Cardoso Gómez, coordinator of the Highway and Installations Security Battalion of the National Guard in Aguascalientes. He died in Jalisco on Sunday when a car bomb exploded while he was providing support in San Juan de los Lagos.