The Mexican army finally had a location on El Mencho, the most powerful cartel boss in the country, and they weren’t going to waste it. For years, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes had dodged every attempt to capture him. He’d shot down military helicopters, ambushed police convoys, and ordered hits on judges. His men had burned banks and used drones to bomb government buildings.
The US had placed a $15 million bounty on his head, and Mexico had made him its most wanted man. But he moved constantly through remote mountain regions, and his military-trained gunmen kept him safe. That changed when Mexican intelligence tracked down a close associate connected to one of his girlfriends. On February 22nd, 2026, the Mexican army launched a raid on his hideout in Tapalpa.
As soldiers moved in, a heavy shootout erupted. El Mencho tried to run, but special forces chased him down. They found him hiding in a nearby forest, badly wounded by gunfire. A helicopter was sent to evacuate him, but he died during the flight to the hospital.
His downfall triggered immediate retaliation across 20 Mexican states. Shootouts, explosions, and arson attacks broke out, leaving 25 National Guard members and at least one civilian dead. Across the ocean, another kingpin met a similar end. José Carlos do Zé Encina, known as Escadinha, was one of the founders of Comando Vermelho, Brazil’s powerful criminal organization.
He’d built an empire in the hillside favelas of Rio de Janeiro, and he’d become famous for his dramatic prison escapes. In 1985, he escaped from Ilha Grande prison when an accomplice forced a helicopter pilot to land in a clearing nearby. Using a pass given by a guard, José walked out, boarded the helicopter, and fled. He was recaptured a year later after being shot twice in a clash with military police and sentenced to 50 years.
In 1987, another rescue was attempted. Two accomplices hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to land on a water tank near the prison. But a shootout broke out during the escape. The helicopter was hit by gunfire and crashed, killing the pilot, the hijackers, and another accomplice who fell about 10 meters while hanging from the aircraft.
On September 23rd, 2004, Escadinha, then 48, left his prison in the morning to go to work. He didn’t get far. Two gunmen on motorcycles riddled his car with rifle fire, killing him. The ambush was believed to be a drug-related contract hit.
Many residents in the favela he once controlled mourned his death. He had distributed food there and helped pay for new schools. Nazario Moreno González, known as El Chayo, led La Familia Michoacana and later the Knights Templar Cartel. He was one of Mexico’s most wanted criminals, accused of organized crime, kidnapping, and murder.
His cartel also acted like a religious cult. Moreno wrote his own Bible for members with rules for behavior. In 2010, federal police located him in a village in Michoacán, where he handed out Christmas gifts at a local festival. More than 2,000 officers surrounded the area.
As police entered the town, his gunmen blocked the roads with over 40 burning trucks and cars. They also surrounded the state capital of Morelia to stop reinforcements. A two-day shootout started, where at least 11 people died. Authorities claimed Moreno also died, but he was only injured, escaped, and hid for several years.
On March 9th, 2014, more than 150 army and navy troops located him in his hometown, Tumbiscatío. When they tried to arrest him, he opened fire and was shot twice in the chest. Juan Esparragoza Moreno, or El Azul, was a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel. Before entering organized crime, he worked for Mexico’s former secret police.
In the 1970s, he helped establish the Guadalajara Cartel, later became involved in the Juárez Cartel, but eventually aligned with Sinaloa, working for El Chapo Guzmán. He kept a low profile and avoided media attention, but he still ended up on Mexico’s most wanted list, with a combined $7 million bounty on his head. On June 7th, 2014, reports claimed he died of a heart attack at 65 after complications from spine injuries sustained in a car accident. Accounts differ on where he died—either Mexico City, Guadalajara, or Culiacán.
His remains were reportedly cremated. But some officials dispute that. Moreno still appears on US reward lists, and his wanted poster hasn’t been removed. Some believe he’s still alive and underwent plastic surgery.
Heriberto Lazcano was the leader of Los Zetas, one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico, known for beheadings. Lazcano originally served in the Mexican army before deserting. He was later recruited by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén to serve as a Gulf Cartel enforcer, but this enforcer group broke away and formed Los Zetas. Lazcano became notorious for extreme brutality, earning the nickname El Verdugo.
He kept lions and tigers on a ranch and sometimes used them to dispose of victims. In April 2012, the Mexican armed forces raided one of his parties in Monclova, but he escaped. His death came later that year on October 7th, when the Mexican navy responded to reports of armed men in the city of Progreso. When the marines arrived, attackers threw grenades from a moving vehicle, triggering a firefight.
From inside a van, Lazcano and a gunman opened fire on the marines. The shootout ended with Lazcano, his associate, and one marine dead. His body was taken to a local funeral home. But before the navy could formally announce his death, heavily armed men stormed the building, overpowered the staff, seized the bodies, and fled.
Khun Sa was a Chinese drug warlord who controlled the largest opium-producing network in Southeast Asia. He joined the Chinese nationalist forces as a boy, and by 16 had formed his own armed gang. He fought local rebels, and in return the Burmese government allowed him to cultivate and trade his product. But by the 1960s, he had to face rivals.
The Lo Hsing Army bombed his convoy and stole his product. In 1969, he was arrested at an airport by the Burmese army for conspiring with rebels. But his most loyal followers kidnapped two Soviet doctors and ransomed them for his release. By 1976, he had reformed his forces in Thailand, commanding 20,000 men better armed than the Burmese military.
The US placed a $2 million bounty on him. In 1981, Thai rangers and local rebels tried to assassinate him under DEA pressure, but failed. In ’82, a 1,000-man Thai army force attacked his base with gunships and planes. After four days of heavy fighting, Khun Sa retreated to Burma.
In 1996, facing pressure from rival armies, he cut a secret deal with the Burmese government to guarantee his protection. He retired lavishly with a fortune of $5 billion and died on October 26th, 2007 in Myanmar at 73 from complications of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and smoking. Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela was one of the leaders of Colombia’s Cali Cartel, which had ties with Italy’s Camorra mafia. He was arrested in Spain and returned to Colombia, but was cleared of all charges.
But after the fall of Pablo Escobar, authorities focused on the Cali Cartel. In 1985, Orejuela was captured in Cali during a police raid while hiding in a secret compartment behind a TV in his luxury apartment. He paid his way out, but was arrested again in 2003 and led cartel activities from prison. In 2004, he and his brother were extradited to the US and sentenced to 30 years, agreeing to give up $2 billion in assets in a plea deal.
He died of cancer on May 31st, 2022, aged 83 in a medical prison in North Carolina. Helmer Herrera, known as Pacho, was one of the four leaders of the Cali Cartel. After the other leaders were arrested, he turned himself in and was sentenced to 14 years. In prison, he focused on football.
On November 4th, 1998, Rafael Uribe Serna, Herrera’s former advisor and frequent visitor, came to see him during a game. After hugging him, Uribe pulled out a gun and shot Herrera seven times in the head. Other inmates overpowered Uribe while Herrera was rushed to the hospital, where he died. The killing was linked to Herrera allegedly betraying rival Norte del Valle leader Orlando Henao Montoya by providing information to the DEA.
Uribe was the uncle of two of their other leaders. As pressure increased on the Cali Cartel, Henao, still working there, took several mid-level commanders and formed the Norte del Valle Cartel. At its peak, it was believed to be the most powerful cartel in Colombia, enforcing its goals by paying violent paramilitary groups. The Orejuela brothers described him as more bloodthirsty than Pablo Escobar.
He ordered the assassination of Cali leader José Santacruz Londoño and other members, including the hit on Pacho Herrera in prison. But eventually, the DEA and Colombian authorities had enough. After his associates surrendered, Henao also turned himself in. He only got 3 years.
Unlucky for him, he ended up in the same prison as José Manuel Herrera Moncada, Pacho’s half-brother. Seeking revenge for Pacho’s death, Moncada smuggled two guns in. Although Henao denied involvement and claimed he could reveal the real killer, Moncada shot him in November 1998. His death split the cartel into two rival factions, triggering brutal gang warfare that killed more than 1,000 people between 2003 and 2004.
Griselda Blanco, or La Madrina, was exposed to crime early. At age 11, she allegedly took part in a kidnapping and murder, and by her teens, she was already a skilled pickpocket. But it was her move to the United States in 1964 that changed everything. She settled in Queens, New York, and built a major drug operation, cooperating with Escobar’s Medellín Cartel.
In the 1980s, she became a central figure in the violent Miami drug wars, responsible for hundreds of killings. Blanco popularized motorcycle drive-by shootings. She personally shot her second husband during a small argument and ordered hits on her first and third husbands. The DEA arrested her in 1985.
She was released in 2004 and deported to Colombia, where she lived a quiet life. But on September 3rd, 2012, she was shot in the head twice outside a butcher shop in Medellín in a motorcycle drive-by attack mirroring her own methods. Ramón Arellano Félix was a founder and ruthless enforcer of the Mexican Tijuana Cartel. But his four brothers didn’t respect him much.
To prove himself, he targeted a drug dealer who owed money to the cartel and ordered the massacre of three families—19 people connected to the dealer—outside Ensenada, California. This drew heavy attention from authorities. By 1997, he was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List. At the same time, tensions with El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel were escalating.
On February 10th, 2002, Ramón was stopped during a routine traffic stop by a Mexican police officer, probably bribed by El Chapo. Ramón pulled out a gun and fatally wounded the officer. But as the officer collapsed, he fired back, hitting Ramón in the head. Ramón’s death led to the fall of the Tijuana Cartel and allowed the Sinaloa and later Jalisco Cartels to flourish.
Arturo Beltrán Leyva, known as La Muerte, began his career working for kingpins like Félix Gallardo and Amado Carrillo Fuentes. He later joined the Sinaloa Cartel and became a high-ranking member, especially while El Chapo was in prison in the early 2000s. But after his brother Alfredo was arrested, Arturo believed El Chapo had betrayed him to free his own son. In retaliation, Arturo had one of El Chapo’s sons shot.
Then, Arturo formed his own cartel, launching violent turf wars against Sinaloa. His cartel became known for kidnappings, torture, and killings, making him the third most wanted man in Mexico. On December 11th, 2009, he held a fancy Christmas party in a wealthy gated community near Cuernavaca. Mexican special forces surrounded the house, but he escaped during the gunfight, where three of his men and a bystander were killed.
Five days later, they found him at another luxury apartment. Around 200 Mexican Marines, supported by two helicopters and two tanks, surrounded the building. During a 90-minute battle, his men threw 20 grenades to stop the Marines, but they repelled from helicopters and stormed the building, killing Arturo and three of his men. Days later, his cartel killed the family of a Marine who had died in the raid.
A banner left at a kindergarten warned that more retaliation would follow. Klaas Bruinsma was a Dutch drug lord, known as the Pastor for his black clothing and habit of lecturing others. He led a violent hashish smuggling empire across Europe and was known for eliminating associates who disobeyed him. By 1978, he had built a powerful organization operating in Germany, Belgium, France, and Scandinavia, surrounding himself with professional kickboxers as his personal bodyguards.
In 1983, Bruinsma shot several of his own people who tried to steal his shipments and was wounded, then spent 3 years in prison. After his release, he expanded into casinos, brothels, and other legal businesses. By the late 1980s, he had become the largest drug trafficker in European history, making around 500,000 a day. He wanted to retire and go sailing, but on June 27th, 1991, he got into an argument with Martin Hoogland, a former police officer working for him.
Hoogland shot him dead outside the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. Hoogland himself was murdered in 2004 while on parole. Amado Carrillo Fuentes was a Mexican drug lord who took control of the Juárez Cartel after taking out his boss. He built a highly efficient network using fleets of 22 aircraft, earning the nickname El Señor de los Cielos.
He worked with Pablo Escobar, El Chapo, the Cali Cartel, and the Arellano Félix family. He was moving four times more product to the US than any other trafficker. By the mid-1990s, he became a top DEA target and the most wanted drug lord with an estimated fortune of 25 billion dollars. Pressure increased from Mexican and US authorities after public protests exposed his links to a corrupt governor.
On July 4th, 1997, trying to avoid capture and panicking, he underwent plastic surgery and liposuction at a hospital in Mexico City to change his looks. But complications during the procedure, possibly related to medication or a respirator failure, led to his death the following day. In November 1997, two surgeons who performed the surgery were found encased in concrete inside steel drums. Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, or Tony Tormenta, took over the Gulf Cartel after his brother Osiel was arrested.
But without his brother’s leadership, internal power struggles broke out, and its former armed wing, Los Zetas, broke away, starting a rivalry. The conflict escalated in January 2010 when Gulf Cartel member Samuel Flores Borrego killed a Zetas leader. Antonio and his private force, Los Escorpiones, moved into Valle Hermoso and seized the city from Zetas control. Several police officers working for Los Zetas were hung from light poles as a warning.
For months, Mexican forces tried to capture him, but he always escaped during heavy shootouts thanks to the protection of his gunmen and armored vehicles. But on November 5th, 2010, the government had had enough and sent more than 660 Marines, 17 vehicles, and three helicopters to capture him in his hometown of Matamoros. International bridges to Texas were closed and the city was surrounded. An 8-hour battle erupted.
Residents hid while fighting spread through the streets. Cartel members hijacked buses to block roads. Their snipers fired from rooftops, and at least 300 grenades were used while helicopters fired from above. By the afternoon, Marines located Tony in a downtown building, stormed it, and killed him and his inner circle.
At least 47 people died in the violence, including soldiers and a journalist, though some witnesses said the toll over 2 days may have exceeded 100. After news of his death spread, more roadblocks, grenade attacks, and shootouts broke out across Tamaulipas and beyond. Los Zetas celebrated by hanging mocking banners on bridges and inviting Gulf Cartel members to join them. Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, or El Mexicano, was one of the main leaders of the Medellín Cartel alongside Pablo Escobar and the Ochoa brothers, overseeing its military operations.
At the height of his power, he was one of the world’s most successful traffickers, flooding the US with product. The DEA placed him on a most wanted list in 1989, but he didn’t care. He had his former boss Gilberto Molina and 16 others killed at a party and later ordered the murder of former associate Verónica Rivera. He was then involved in the assassination of Patriotic Union leader Leal and presidential candidate Galán.
In response, President Barco launched a major offensive. The Medellín Cartel responded by declaring war on the government, leading to frequent bombings and hundreds of deaths. Despite this, Escobar and Gacha stayed ahead of authorities for months. But Gacha had made too many enemies.
Eventually, the Colombian government, the Cali Cartel, the FARC, and the DEA all collaborated to bring him down. His organization was infiltrated, and his location was revealed by a Cali Cartel informant. When police arrived in Cartagena, he escaped by motorboat, but the same informant was on board and kept passing information. On December 15th, 1989, 22 elite soldiers in two helicopters flew over the village where he was hiding.
Gacha and his men, disguised as farm workers, fled in a red truck while helicopters pursued them. His son and several gunmen eventually jumped out and fired at the aircraft, but were killed by machine gun fire and repelling troops. Gacha continued fleeing and tried to escape through a banana plantation but tore his scalp brawling through a wire fence. Feeling cornered, he fired at the helicopter, revealing his position.
Police responded with machine gun fire, wounding his leg and knocking him down before shooting him in the face. Brandon Kelly Charlin was a South African drug lord who rose from a street dealer to what some called Africa’s Escobar. He ran a wholesale drug empire in the Chatsworth Township in KwaZulu-Natal and controlled distribution networks across South Africa. He first worked for Kelvin Kelly Naidoo, leader of the violent 11th Street Gang.
When Naidoo was killed in a drive-by shooting by the rival Dray Boys Gang in 2008, Kelly Charlin took over. A gang war followed between the 11th Street Gang and the Dray Boys from 2008 to 2011, marked by drive-by shootings, retaliation attacks, and many deaths. Brandon lived a lavish lifestyle and flaunted his wealth on social media. He felt untouchable, but that was his downfall because over the years he had made many enemies.
On March 21st, 2023, Kelly Charlin, his wife Jacintha, and their 9-year-old daughter were driving in an industrial area of Durban when gunmen pulled alongside their car and opened fire from both sides. More than 50 high-caliber rounds hit the vehicle. Kelly Charlin and his wife died at the scene, and their daughter later died in the hospital. The aftermath was bloody.
More drive-by shootings turned parts of the city into a war zone. Ignacio Coronel Villareal, known as the King of Crystal, was one of the founders of the Sinaloa Cartel, working closely with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Before that, he worked for Amado Carrillo Fuentes, but after his death, he became loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel. By the early 2000s, the US and Mexico had arrest warrants for him, and a $5 million bounty was on his head.
He kept a low profile, but in April 2010, gunmen from the rival Los Zetas Cartel kidnapped and murdered his 16-year-old son. Coronel retaliated by sending more than 100 gunmen to kill 14 people. On July 29th, 2010, Mexican soldiers raided one of his safe houses in an upscale neighborhood of Guadalajara. Coronel opened fire and tried to escape, killing one soldier and wounding another before being shot in the head.
Juan Raúl Garza was an American drug kingpin who ran a large marijuana smuggling operation between Mexico and the US using a fleet of airplanes for transport. But after some shipments were seized by police, Garza suspected that some of his workers were informants. His growing distrust led him to order or personally carry out several hits, but that only drew more attention. Law enforcement slowly closed in by tapping his phone and tailing him.
In 1992, the US Customs Service launched a big operation against his organization. Most of his associates were arrested, but Garza escaped to Mexico. In November 1992, after running low on money, he contacted an associate to arrange another deal. Unlucky for him, this guy had become an informant, and the call was recorded.
Authorities traced the call, Garza was arrested and handed over to the US. He was convicted on multiple drug trafficking charges and eight murders. On June 19th, 2001, Garza was executed by lethal injection. His last words were an apology for the pain he caused, asking for forgiveness before he sighed and died 5 minutes later.
Gustavo Gaviria was Pablo Escobar’s cousin and right-hand man, serving as the financial mastermind of the Medellín Cartel. He controlled its international smuggling routes and laundered billions. He had wealth comparable to Pablo and even his own armed forces but kept a low profile. However, by the early 1990s, the Medellín Cartel was in open war with the Colombian government.
During the crackdown, the National Police’s Search Bloc forces tracked Gustavo to a house in the upscale Laureles neighborhood of Medellín. Police said he was killed during a shootout, but Pablo claimed he had been captured, tortured, and executed after refusing to inform on him and that the incident was covered up to avoid retaliation. Gustavo’s death deeply affected Escobar. Afterward, he decided to surrender to authorities, but only under his terms—staying in his self-built prison, La Catedral, guarded by his own men.
By 1993, Pablo Escobar had been on the run for 16 months after escaping his self-built luxury prison. Hunted by Colombian forces, the US government, and rival cartels. Linked to the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 that killed 107 innocent people, the bombing of the DAS building in Bogotá, and many assassinations, he was one of the world’s most wanted criminals. But he was running out of safe houses and henchmen.
Los Pepes, an anti-Escobar group backed by the Cali Cartel, was busy dismantling these. On December 2nd, 1993, Colombian special forces traced his location after he made a phone call to his family using US-provided technology. He was hiding in a small house in a Medellín neighborhood when police stormed the building. Escobar tried to escape across the rooftops with his bodyguard, leading to a gunfight.
Bullets hit his torso and feet, and a final shot struck his head, killing him. Some believe police fired the fatal shot. Others say Escobar did. The Medellín Cartel quickly fragmented, and Cali took over.
Over 25,000 people attended his funeral.
