U.S. Authorities Identified El Mencho’s Hideout as CJNG Money Laundering Hub Since 2020

Tapalpa, Jalisco — U.S. authorities identified the mountainous region of Tapalpa, Jalisco — where cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was recently located and killed — as a strategic money laundering center for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and its financial arm, Los Cuinis, as early as 2020.

Three cabin complexes along the Tapalpa–San Gabriel highway operated as front businesses used to launder funds from drug trafficking, according to U.S. financial officials.

“These properties, managed through companies that simulated tourism activities, were flagged by financial authorities as part of the CJNG’s economic framework, whose strength relied not only on military capacity but on a diversified financial structure designed to hide the flow of millions of dollars generated by synthetic drug trafficking to the United States and other countries,” officials stated.

The remote Tapalpa area, characterized by its isolation and discreet tourism activity, proved ideal for the cartel’s illicit operations. The cabins allowed constant movement of people, vehicles, and resources without raising suspicion, while providing a secure space for the criminal leader himself.

According to Mexican security officials, the discovery of El Mencho in this enclave was not coincidental: authorities detected the location through sustained military intelligence, aerial surveillance, and tracking of individuals in his inner circle, including a romantic partner recently moved to that location.

The confirmation that the hideout also formed part of the CJNG’s financial network adds a critical dimension to the blow dealt to the cartel. It was not merely a strategic hiding place but a node for inserting illicit capital into the formal economy — an essential mechanism for the criminal group’s international survival.

El Mencho’s death marks a decisive moment in bilateral security cooperation, as the dismantling of his Tapalpa refuge eliminates not only a command point but also a key link in what authorities consider one of the continent’s most sophisticated money laundering systems.