Mexican cartel

Mexican army kills 'El Melcho': How is Mexico's most violent cartel so powerful? - explainer

With high-caliber weapons and military-grade equipment, the CJNG is one of Mexico's most powerful and violent drug cartels. But how did it gain so much power?

|ByTOBIAS HOLCMAN
A member of the Mexican navy patrols Benito Juarez International Airport after Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho," was killed in Jalisco state, in Mexico City, Mexico, February 22, 2026.
Vehicles drive past a burning bus used as a roadblock by organized crime following a federal operation in which a government source said Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed, in Zapopan, Mexico, February 22, 2026.

New US military-led group aided Mexico's hunt for 'El Mencho' cartel boss

The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which involves multiple US government agencies, was quietly launched late last year with the goal of mapping out networks of drug cartel members.

|ByREUTERS, TOBIAS HOLCMAN, GOLDIE KATZ
National Guard members stand guard near a burnt bus set on fire by organised crime groups in response to an operation in Jalisco to arrest a high-priority security target, at one of the main avenues in Zapopan, state of Jalisco, Mexico, on February 22, 2026.

Powerful Mexican Jalisco cartel head 'El Mencho' killed during military operation

Initial unverified reports on social media showed that members of the cartel violently overtook an airport in Jalisco. 

|ByGOLDIE KATZ, CORINNE BAUM
Carrier named airline of the year 2025 by AirlineRatings.com.

Flight grounding lifted at El Paso airport after Mexican drone alert

The action barring flights at a single US airport appears unprecedented, government officials said. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the FAA barred all civilian flights across the United States.

|ByREUTERS

Former Mexican drug kingpin Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada pleads guilty to US charges

The charges stemmed from his decades-long role leading the Sinaloa cartel alongside imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

AUGUST 26, 2025ByREUTERS
Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the alleged Sinaloa cartel co-founder facing U.S. drug trafficking charges, allocutes to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan at federal court in New York City, New York, U.S., August 25, 2025 in this courtroom sketch.

Trump administration eyes military action against drug cartels, US officials say

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the administration could now use the military to go after cartels.

AUGUST 8, 2025ByREUTERS
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 13, 2025.

US pushes Mexico to prosecute politicians with ties to drug cartels

The requests seek to push President Claudia Sheinbaum's government to investigate current elected officials and launch an unprecedented crackdown on narco corruption.

JUNE 11, 2025ByREUTERS
Demonstrators seen during a protest against federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles, California, US, June 8, 2025

Mexico probes possible drug motive for attack on four Americans

Mexican officials, who say they are pursuing various lines of inquiry, drew up a brief document summarizing the abduction of the Americans and biographical information on them.

MARCH 9, 2023ByREUTERS
'The wall along Mexican border wouldn’t be built and there’d be no chance Mexico would pay a single peso for it.'

What do you need to do to get on the FBI watchlist?

At the end of 2022, the FBI updated its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list but who is on the list and what did they do to get on the list?

JANUARY 8, 2023ByWALLA!
The FBI seal is seen at its headquarters before a news conference by Director Christopher Wray on the US Justice Department inspector general's report about the FBI's actions in the 2016 US election in Washington.

Mexico says at least 29 killed during capture of El Chapo's son

Gang members associated with Guzman were slayed in events following his arrest.

JANUARY 6, 2023ByREUTERS
Yellow police tape lies on the road as federal agents work at a crime scene in the town in Mexico

Mexico arrests Ovidio Guzman, son of 'El Chapo,' in night of violence

News of the capture came after a night of violence in the city of Culiacan in the northern state of Sinaloa, home to the drug cartel of the same name.

JANUARY 5, 2023ByREUTERS
The wreckage of a bus and a burning truck, set on fire by members of a drug gang are pictured following the detention of Mexican drug gang leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of incarcerated kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who has been arrested by Mexican authorities, in Culiacan, Mexico, Jan. 5, 2023.

Abducted mayor, officials in northern Mexico freed, governor says

The mayor of a small town in northern Mexico near the US border and a group of officials have reportedly been freed.

OCTOBER 15, 2022ByREUTERS
Yellow police tape lies on the road as federal agents work at a crime scene in the town in Mexico

Gang shootout in northern Mexico leaves four dead - officials

Three members of the powerful Mexican Gulf Cartel are dead after a shootout and a car chase with law enforcement.

OCTOBER 24, 2021ByREUTERS
Plastic flowers are seen at crosses set up in memory of four policemen who were killed a year ago in a shoot-out with alleged gang members in La Barca November 27, 2013.

As asylum camp swells at US-Mexico border, Biden aide calls for patience

The Trump administration's protocols, in place since 2019, have pushed more than 65,000 asylum seekers back into Mexico to wait for their US court hearings.

JANUARY 30, 2021ByREUTERS
A migrant from Guatemala talk to a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent at the Paso del Norte international border bridge to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 26, 2021.