Former DEA Agent Details Challenge of Uncovering El Mencho's Hidden Wealth, Estimated to Reach $1 Billion: 'It's So Diversified'

Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes died during a military operation in Tapalpa, Mexico, leaving behind a criminal enterprise Mexican officials once estimated held roughly $50 billion in assets.

While the broader Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) controlled vast revenue streams, U.S. authorities had previously estimated El Mencho's personal fortune at between $500 million and $1 billion. Former U.S. investigators, however, say identifying and seizing those assets will be complex.

"I wish it was as simple as the bad guy with the cool car," said David Tyree, a former DEA agent who investigated him for years, to Forbes. "It's so diversified. He's got investments. He's got hotels. He's got networks [with] different forms of passive income."

According to former prosecutors and agents, El Mencho's wealth was likely structured similarly to that of a multinational investor, spread across bank accounts, shell companies, luxury properties, private aircraft, high-end vehicles, cryptocurrency holdings and legitimate businesses used to launder proceeds. Much of CJNG's financial infrastructure was linked to Los Cuinis, a network led by his in-laws that U.S. authorities have described as the cartel's financial arm.

Steffan Cassella, a former federal prosecutor, told Forber that traffickers often move money into relatives' names, use trade-based money laundering and convert funds into seemingly legitimate enterprises:

"They create shell companies. They move the money into the names of relatives. They use cryptocurrencies. They engage in trade-based money laundering to convert their money into something legitimate. There's no one way"

Beyond narcotics trafficking, CJNG expanded into fuel theft, extortion, human trafficking and financial scams, increasing its share of Mexico's illicit drug market as rival organizations fractured. El Mencho founded the cartel in 2009 and led it while evading capture for more than a decade, often operating from remote locations and limiting digital communication.

Despite efforts to avoid public displays of wealth inside Mexico, reporting has linked him to high-end sports cars and luxury residences abroad, including properties in Argentina and Uruguay. Authorities in Mexico and the United States are now expected to pursue both physical assets and financial accounts tied to him, though recovering significant portions of his estimated fortune may prove difficult.

As former DEA agent Michael Vigil put it, when traffickers receive life sentences, "Why would they cooperate in providing that money?"