El Mencho killed in Mexico: A look at biggest narcos of all time who dominated global drug trade in different eras

The Mexican army killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes or El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), on Sunday, dealing a major blow to what had grown into Mexico’s most dominant drug cartel and sparking unrest across large parts of the country.

In response, cartel members set vehicles on fire and used them to block highways in nearly a dozen states, sending thick smoke into the air. The capital of Jalisco, Guadalajara, became largely deserted Sunday night as residents stayed indoors, and classes were suspended in several regions on Monday.

According to the Defense Department, Oseguera Cervantes was injured during a military operation aimed at capturing him in Tapalpa, roughly two hours southwest of Guadalajara. He later died while being transported by air to Mexico City. The state serves as the main base of the cartel, which is known for trafficking large amounts of fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.

Through the Medellin Cartel, he controlled an estimated 80% of the global cocaine trade and reportedly smuggled as much as 15 tons of cocaine into the United States each day. His influence in Colombia was so extensive that he once proposed paying off the country’s $10 billion national debt in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

2. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, often called “El Chapo", is considered one of the most influential drug traffickers in history. Although not as wealthy as Pablo Escobar, the US Drug Enforcement Administration has described him as the most notorious drug lord of all time and a central figure in the global drug trade. Under his leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel reportedly expanded into an international network operating in more than 40 countries and trafficking cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana.

Unlike Escobar, who died relatively young, El Chapo remained active for decades and gained a legendary reputation, partly due to his dramatic prison escapes through sophisticated tunnel systems. His impact was such that he became the only figure since Al Capone to be labeled “Public Enemy Number One” by the Chicago Crime Commission.

3. Amado Carrillo Fuentes

Amado Carrillo Fuentes was one of the most powerful Mexican traffickers of the 1980s and 1990s and led the Juarez Cartel. Nicknamed “Lord of the Skies,” he built a vast cocaine empire by using fleets of aircraft to transport drugs from South America into Mexico and onward to the United States. His advanced smuggling operations made him one of the richest and most influential traffickers of his era. Carrillo Fuentes died in 1997 during a plastic surgery procedure that was reportedly intended to help him avoid capture.

4. Khun Sa

Khun Sa dominated the heroin trade in Southeast Asia for decades, operating in the region known as the Golden Triangle, where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet. From the 1970s through the 1990s, he controlled large-scale opium production and was believed to supply a major portion of the world’s heroin. Khun Sa commanded a private militia and governed territories under his influence before eventually surrendering to Myanmar authorities in 1996, marking the end of his dominance.

5. Griselda Blanco

Griselda Blanco was a pioneering figure in the cocaine trade between Colombia and the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. Associated with the Medellin Cartel, she helped establish major trafficking routes into cities such as Miami and became known for her ruthless tactics. Blanco was linked to numerous killings and played a major role in shaping early cartel operations. After years in prison, she was deported to Colombia, where she was killed in 2012.

6. Roberto Suárez Gómez

Roberto Suarez Gomez emerged as a central figure in the global cocaine trade during the 1970s and 1980s. Operating from Bolivia, he built one of the largest cocaine empires of the period and supplied major Colombian trafficking networks. His operations helped expand the international cocaine market and earned him a reputation as one of the most influential cocaine barons of his time. He was eventually arrested and spent years in prison before dying in 2000.

7. Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía

Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia was a leading figure in Colombia’s Norte del Valle Cartel during the 1990s and early 2000s. Known for his secretive lifestyle and elaborate efforts to evade authorities, he managed extensive cocaine trafficking operations that supplied markets in North America and Europe. Ramírez Abadía was eventually arrested in Brazil in 2007 and extradited to the United States, where his capture marked a major blow to the cartel.