Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s brave fight against narcoterrorism

When Mexican forces killed Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — known as “El Mencho,” the longtime head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — the retaliation by one of the most violent criminal organizations in the Western Hemisphere was immediate and brutal.

Gunfire erupted in crowded streets. Highways were blocked with burning vehicles. Armed convoys menaced neighborhoods. Entire cities shut down as cartel gunmen sought to reassert their reach. In the first 24 hours alone, dozens of Mexican National Guard members were killed in coordinated counterattacks — a stark reminder that this cartel operates not as a street gang, but as a heavily armed insurgent enterprise.

Mexico’s operation against Jalisco New Generation is part of a truly courageous and successful campaign by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum since taking office: direct action against cartel leadership combined with expanded cooperation with the U.S.

To be clear, this was not a unilateral strike carried out in isolation. Targeting cartel leadership was undertaken in close partnership with U.S. authorities, relying on shared intelligence, coordinated targeting, and operational synchronization. The campaign underscores a maturing bilateral security relationship to counter a common threat.

Her administration has also accelerated extraditions of senior cartel figures to U.S. courts — a consequential step that disrupts command structures and removes high-level operators from Mexican territory. These extraditions are politically sensitive, diplomatically complex, and life-threatening to Sheinbaum personally. She has proceeded anyway.

Last month, after Mexican authorities helped arrest a major trafficker on the U.S. most wanted list, FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Mexico, underscoring an increasingly operational partnership. Senior-level dialogue, intelligence fusion, and coordinated enforcement actions now define the relationship more than public friction does.

For President Donald Trump, dismantling fentanyl networks and cartel supply chains has been central to his national security agenda. For Mexico, cartel dominance has eroded public safety and seriously undermined state authority. Our joint strategic interests align.

Groups like Jalisco New Generation operate with paramilitary capability. They field armored vehicles, deploy military-grade weapons, buy off and threaten officials, and use spectacular violence to intimidate governments and populations alike. Authorizing operations against senior leadership invites brutal retaliation, carrying risk well beyond the battlefield. Cartels have assassinated local officials, infiltrated institutions, and issued threats that reach into every facet of national politics.

The deadly response following El Mencho’s killing demonstrates both the scale of the threat and the seriousness of Mexico’s current approach. Sheinbaum is escalating pressure and delivering tangible blows against organizations that have long relied on fear as a governing tool.

That makes Washington’s posture critical.

Public threats of unilateral U.S. military action inside Mexico would complicate the very strategy currently underway. Sheinbaum is taking significant political and personal risk by targeting cartel leadership, increasing extraditions, and deepening cooperation with U.S. authorities. Her credibility at home matters. Strengthening it advances shared objectives. Undermining it weakens a partner engaged in a high-stakes confrontation with transnational criminal networks.

Cooperation is already functioning at a serious level. Escalatory rhetoric could disrupt intelligence sharing and embolden criminal organizations eager to portray bilateral tension as opportunity.

Fentanyl continues to devastate American communities. But we must recognize that drug users in the United States demand Mexican drugs, supply the money to pay for them and the chemicals to make them. Likewise, the vast majority of weapons in the hands of the cartels comes from the United States. It is reasonable therefore for Mexicans to believe we are part of the problem, and have every reason to expect us to do our part to help them end the scourge threatening their own country.

Enforcement alone will not solve either the supply or demand challenge; long-term progress requires institutional reform, fighting addiction, anti-corruption measures, and economic resilience. But enforcement remains essential. Removing leadership, disrupting logistics, and severing financial pipelines are prerequisites for broader reform.

Sheinbaum’s current course reflects that understanding. Targeting high-level figures, facilitating extraditions, and coordinating closely with U.S. counterparts represent sustained strategic decisions, not isolated gestures.

The U.S. benefits when Mexico acts decisively against narcoterrorism. Mexico benefits when the partnership is steady and credible. Cartels benefit when political friction disrupts coordinated pressure.

This is a moment for alignment.

Sheinbaum is pressing against some of the most powerful criminal organizations in the hemisphere. Doing so exposes her government — and her personally — to retaliation. It also reinforces the principle that the Mexican state, not armed syndicates, governs Mexican territory.

Washington should reinforce that effort. Support, intelligence cooperation, and disciplined messaging will advance shared security goals more effectively than threats of unilateral action.

Narcoterrorism is a transnational problem that demands sustained cooperation. To that end, Claudia Sheinbaum has proven herself a fearless and capable partner. With the cartels on the run, Mexico needs an ally not an adversary.

Richard Swett served as the U.S. representative for New Hampshire’s 2nd District from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark from 1998 to 2001. Republican Christopher Shays served as the U.S. representative for Connecticut’s 4th District from 1987 to 2009.

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