Golden coffin, regional music and a lot of security, El Mencho’s burial in Guadalajara

In a golden coffin, with regional Mexican music and under a huge military and police deployment, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was buried this Monday in a cemetery in the municipality of Zapopan, near Guadalajara. At noon this Monday, the hearse arrived at the Recinto de La Paz, a cemetery west of the city and about 23 kilometers from where the wake took place and which was guarded by federal, state, and municipal security forces. The body was moved in a gold-colored coffin and was received by a regional music band that began to play songs like “The happy boy”, and then entered the chapel of the place. The hearse was preceded by three cranes that transported the dozens of floral arrangements that arrived during the funeral and that were able to enter the cemetery through the usual places due to their size.

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Since last Saturday, when family members claimed the body at the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico City, a large security operation was deployed in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area by the Mexican Army, the National Guard, and the state police. The body of the most wanted drug lord in Mexico and the United States arrived at the funeral home on Sunday night, heavily escorted by civilian and military trucks, in charge of watching the hearse.

Military Control Around the Funeral Home

From that moment on, dozens of floral arrangements with white roses arrived, among which one stood out whose ribbon revealed the initials “CJNG”, as well as another with red roses in the shape of a rooster, alluding to the fact that the suspect was known as “The Lord of the Roosters”. Most of the arrangements arrived without ribbons identifying the sender. The entry and exit of people around the funeral home was controlled by military personnel, and there was even a military vehicle on site, which remained there until the transfer to the cemetery.

Because no federal, state, or municipal authority has confirmed the presence of the capo’s remains, the mobilization of military elements has caused tension and fear among the population of Guadalajara, capital of Jalisco and which will be one of the three Mexican cities hosting the World Cup that will be held in just 100 days.

Jalisco, in western Mexico, is still trying to recover from the fires and riots of last Sunday, February 22, when the state governor, Pablo Lemus, decreed the “Red Code” for two days due to the violent response of Oseguera’s allies and partners after the death of their leader. The military operation against El Mencho, 59 years old, took place in Tapalpa, 130 kilometers south of Guadalajara, and caused a wave of violence in a large part of Mexico, such as road blockades, business fires, flight cancellations, and attacks on security forces by organized crime.

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According to authorities, 25 members of the National Guard and more than 30 members of the CJNG died in clashes following the military operation, most of them in the state of Jalisco.