The leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, has been buried in a golden casket at a cemetery in Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, according to a federal official. The funeral took place on Monday, with dozens of mourners accompanying the procession, many carrying black umbrellas on a sunny day, while a band played regional Mexican music.
The Attorney General's Office had declined to confirm the burial location for security reasons. Security had been heightened around a funeral home since Sunday, where large flower wreaths had been delivered without names. Some featured the image of a rooster in flowers, reflecting one of his aliases, "Lord of the Roosters." Oseguera Cervantes was killed by the Mexican army just over a week ago during an attempted capture. A death certificate obtained by The Associated Press recorded that he died from multiple bullet wounds to the chest, abdomen and legs.
Defence Secretary Ricardo Trevilla described the operation, saying 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 hospital. His body was taken to Mexico City for an autopsy before being handed to his family on Saturday. The death certificate noted that burial was standard practice in cases of violent death to allow for further forensic evidence to be gathered if needed, but did not specify the burial site.
The killing has sparked retaliation across some 20 states, with more than 70 deaths recorded between the military operation and subsequent violence. The government has said security operations against other senior cartel members continue. The shrouding of drug lords' burials in mystery is common in Mexico, allowing supporters to elevate them to legend. Within hours of El Mencho's death, narcocorridos – ballads about his killing – had already been composed.
In Culiacan, in the neighbouring state of Sinaloa, a cemetery features luxury crypts and mausoleums for former kingpins such as Ignacio Coronel and Arturo Beltrán Leyva. Other cases have taken more unusual turns: Nazario Moreno was reportedly killed in 2010 and again in 2014; Heriberto Lazcano's body was stolen in 2012; and Amado Carrillo Fuentes died during a botched plastic surgery.
