Who are Mexico’s top cartel bosses killed or arrested in recent years?

EXPLAINER

From El Chapo to El Lazca, here’s a list of drug lords who have been taken down.

Published On 23 Feb 2026

Mexican armed forces have killed powerful drug lord Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes in an operation that has set off a wave of violence in some parts of the country.

The leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was wounded on Sunday in a clash with soldiers in Tapalpa, a town in the western state of Jalisco. He died while being flown to Mexico City, the army said.

Oseguera is the latest Mexican cartel boss to have been killed or arrested. Below are some of the most prominent cases:

- July 2024: Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada is arrested at an airfield near El Paso, a city in the state of Texas in the United States, along with a son of his Sinaloa Cartel partner, drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Zambada alleges Joaquin Guzman Lopez kidnapped him and turned him over to US agents. A Guzman family lawyer says the men’s surrender was voluntary and followed extended negotiations.
- January 2023: Ovidio Guzman Lopez, another son of El Chapo and brother of Joaquin, is arrested in Culiacan, the capital of the northwestern state of Sinaloa. His arrest comes after his short-lived detention in October 2019, which was followed by an order by then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to release him to avoid bloodshed when his cartel retaliated.
- July 2022: Mexico’s navy announces the capture of drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, convicted for the murder and torture of a US antinarcotics agent in 1985.
- July 2019: El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord found guilty of running a murderous criminal enterprise that smuggled tonnes of drugs into the US, is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
- February 2015: Authorities say Servando “La Tuta” Gomez, one of the most-wanted drug lords, is captured by the Mexican Federal Police.
- February 2014: Authorities say Mexican and US officials apprehend El Chapo in the beach resort of Mazatlan. Guzman is recaptured in January 2016 after his escape from a maximum security prison near Toluca in July 2015.

July 2013: Authorities in northern Mexico capture Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, alias “Z-40”, leader of Los Zetas, one of the country’s most violent cartels.
October 2012: Mexican marines kill Heriberto Lazcano, alias “El Lazca”, a founder and top leader of Los Zetas.
October 2012: Mexican marines arrest alleged Zetas regional leader Salvador Alfonso Martinez Escobedo.
September 2012: Zetas boss Ivan Velazquez, aka “El Taliban” or “Z-50”, is reported captured in central Mexico.
September 2012: Mexican marines capture purported top Gulf Cartel leader Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, alias “El Coss”. US authorities had offered a $5m reward for his arrest.
December 2010: La Familia boss Nazario Moreno, known as “The Craziest One”, is gunned down in central Mexico.
November 2010: Gulf Cartel boss Ezequiel Cardenas, known as “Tony Tormenta”, is killed in a gun battle with Mexican security forces.
August 2010: Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez, a leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel and a notorious enforcer, is captured near Mexico City.
July 2010: The Mexican army raids a house in the town of Zapopan next to Guadalajara and kills Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel, one of the top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.
December 2009: Mexican marines kill Arturo Beltran Leyva, leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel, in a shootout in Cuernavaca.