The leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias 'El Mencho,' was buried in a shiny golden casket at a cemetery in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, on Monday. A large military presence was reported at the burial.
Dozens of people accompanied the funeral procession, many carrying black umbrellas on a sunny day. A band played Mexican regional music known as banda. Earlier, large flower wreaths had been arriving at a funeral home since Sunday, some featuring the image of a rooster in flowers – Oseguera Cervantes was sometimes called the 'Lord of the Roosters.' The Attorney General's Office declined to confirm the burial location for security reasons.
The Mexican army killed Oseguera Cervantes just over a week ago while attempting to capture him. According to the death certificate obtained by The Associated Press, he died from multiple bullet wounds to his chest, abdomen and legs. Defence Secretary Ricardo Trevilla stated that the cartel leader and two bodyguards were badly wounded in a gunfight with soldiers outside a home in Tapalpa, Jalisco, and died en route to a hospital.
His body was taken to Mexico City for an autopsy before being turned over to his family on Saturday. The death certificate noted that burial was standard practice in violent deaths to allow for future forensic evidence. The killing sparked retaliation by the cartel in some 20 states, with more than 70 people dead between the military operation and subsequent violence. Security operations continue against other high-ranking cartel members.
It is customary for an air of mystery to surround drug lord burials in Mexico, with supporters often elevating them to legend. Within hours of El Mencho's death, ballads known as narcocorridos were written. In Culiacan, Sinaloa, a cemetery features luxury crypts for former kingpins like Ignacio Coronel and Arturo Beltrán Leyva. Other drug lords have had unusual fates, such as Nazario Moreno being killed twice, Heriberto Lazcano's body stolen, and Amado Carrillo Fuentes dying during plastic surgery.
