Who was El Mencho, Mexico's most wanted man?

There are only a handful of names that have had a lasting impact in the history of Mexican organised crime.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes – more commonly known as 'El Mencho' – is one of them. Hailing from humble rural roots in the western state of Michoacán, his rise to the top of one of the most feared and dangerous cartels in modern Mexico, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was meteoric. And it was achieved through aggression, ambition, brutality and ruthlessness.

His killing has been heralded as a victory in both Mexico and the United States.

The Mexican authorities and the US reported that US intelligence was involved in bringing down the kingpin, lending the operation a sense of cross-border cooperation which could benefit both governments.

For the Mexican military, a cartel leader has been removed from the equation, thereby weakening – at least in theory, and maybe for a time – the criminal group he ran.