El Mencho Alleged Death Spreads through Online Messages

“Itzli” for Borderland Beat

Two different online messages fuel rumors that El Mencho, leader of the CJNG, is dead.

La Vaca vs CJNG

In recent weeks, José Bernabé Brizuela Meraz, alias La Vaca, a former high ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) broke away from the organization along with his cell, Los Mezcales, announcing the formation of the Independent Cartel of Colima on banners, as previously reported by Borderland Beat.

Fighting between the two groups rocked the state of Colima as both sides targeted each other, leaving behind a flurry of messages. In particular the CJNG focused on calling themselves the owners of all of Colima and repeatedly calling La Vaca’s group Los Mezcales. 

In turn, it seems that the name Los Mezcales had become a point of contention as La Vaca would go on to write a message, as previously reported by Borderland Beat, against Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez, alias “El Mayate” and Aldrin Miguel Jarquín Jarquín, aliases “El Chaparro” and “El Chaparrito”, among others, shaking off the name Los Mezcales and declaring some to be working under the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) banner or, at the very least, claiming affiliation to them.

The Online Message

On the evening of Wednesday, February 9, 2022 a long message, purported to be from La Vaca, was published on Facebook and it was claimed that this very message had been circulating via WhatsApp prior to this, a translation of which follows:

Citizens of the State of Colima, 

Do not believe everything that is being sent in the [Whatsapp] groups because there are people who just want to intimidate you with fliers. I am from here in Colima and I am willing to fight for my state.

I do not like to go around doing things publicly, as those of the CJNG like to do, because these people are pure publicity and they want to scare the people of Colima; wanting to implement curfews. 

Do not believe that they are going to do something without warning and I want to tell everyone that I have more than 100 people to fight and I do have the balls to drag myself into this and put out my nickname. My name is “Berna” and they nickname me “La Vaca”. I am 100% Colima citizen and I am willing to die fighting.

Come out Jaliscos. Yesterday at 97 Agata Street, we swooped down on them and they ran out and left me their rifles, their drugs, their money and even a car that I got to leave with. That's how you fight, not with innocent people. 

Here, it's stubborn asshole against stubborn asshole. He who is brave doesn’t go about putting out public messages to intimidate the normal people because the problem is between all of you and us, you bunch of traitors.  

And now nobody is afraid of you because Mencho is dead. The support has ended faggots because El Mencho was the one who was respected. 

Who is going to respect you, little kids with shit covered assholes? And you say that: you don’t mess with the townsfolk, you don't mess with the normal people, you don't charge extortion fees, you respect the families, you have loyalty. You say that and you do the exact opposite, you sons of bitches. 

You should put out a publication about where and at what time we can meet up and fuck each other up so you faggots can see the power you are fighting against, sons of bitches. And I am already demonstrating what a real fucking fight is and I am not going to kill innocent people. I’m swooping down on all of you and everyone that helps you I am going to fucking kill.

But I reiterate, to the innocent people, I won’t get involved with your families, because you also have [innocent people], or Julio Castillo Rodriguez, doesn’t your son play soccer in the stadium of the Chivas? Do you want to see how much of an asshole I am when I hit him head on? If you mess with innocent people I am going to hit your family. 

Because there are people who don't like you, because you are very gossipy and a betrayer; and those people give me addresses to your homes. And even if you change it, I have people infiltrated in with you because there are people who don't like you. As an example, your house in Los Encinos. And even if you change your house or cars, even so, they will tell me.

Stop fucking around. It would be better to fuck each other up because leaving flyers and poster boards is childish, dude. Did you not learn anything from your father-in-law?

And just so you know, I am not afraid of you nor El Chaparro nor any of those you bring with you. 

Throw at me the fiercest person you have so you can see, faggot. But say where and at what time and we will be there so you can see that the people from here have balls, faggot. 

Don't shoot in the air. Your people don't even know how to shoot, son of a bitch. I swooped down on you at a house and the only thing your people knew how to do was come out running and leave the rifles behind. But send me only people like that and thanks a lot for the rifles you left me, and the knockoff designer gucci and Luis Vuiton clothes, buy authentic dumbass I thought money falls on you from the sky, you pay your people very little for money to fall on you from the sky dude.

Don’t confide in your family member because they will flip on you, they told me to flip on you but I didn’t want to dude these dudes in your family are going to flip on you. 

But you are a dumb ass for following along with what they say, when they no longer need you they will do the same to you that they wanted to do to me, come close to me to kill me.

But what they don't know is that I have friends that are infiltrated with them, I was in the Altiplano 7 years, I know a lot of people and they warned me and to get ready relative because the day you are not useful to them or you don't obey them, like the day I didn't obey them in doing something to Indira, they will want to send el julio and el chaparro to you relative, because they are the ones that killed the judge Uriel Villegas and they threw the problem on me but handled the shit.

I know that it was them, they will do the same to you relative, don't believe them.

I reiterate I am La Vaca and I am not independent, I have support but not against you all because against you all, I can handle it myself, because to me you are baby chickens, because my balls are so big they drag the ground and I always have my rifle hanging on me faggots and stop this bullshit of sending out flyers, I like to fight, not read your stupid bullshit and stop trying to intimidate the townsfolk, the people are not to blame for this.

Mencho’s Death According to La Vaca

In many ways this message resembles the other two long, rambling messages from La Vaca that appeared in physical form in Colima, with Julio Castillo Rodriguez and El Chaparro being named, as well as the major reason for La Vaca leaving the CJNG being the order to kill Colima governor Indira Vizcaíno Silva.

Among the unique parts of the online message are La Vaca mentioning his time in Altiplano prison, which is a verifiable fact, as well as the killing of Uriel Villegas, a judge who had previously presided over the case of Rubén Oseguera González "El Menchito", son of CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes "El Mencho", as previously reported on Borderland Beat, which was later blamed on the CJNG, as Borderland Beat reported in a separate article.

Surprisingly, the message merely references the alleged death of El Mencho in passing, stating:

“And now nobody is afraid of you because Mencho is dead. The support has ended faggots because El Mencho was the one who was respected.“

Despite this being significant news, the message never mentions it again and in the days immediately thereafter the message flew under the radar for the most part.

Mencho’s Death According to Local News

By the weekend the “news” of El Mencho’s death reached a fever pitch as another line of rumors opened up, this time allegedly from “local and independent news groups from Guadalajara”. Through second hand reports it appears this line of information contains a few key points:

• El Mencho died in a private hospital in Guadalajara

• His death was due to respiratory failure

• Hitmen and heads of plaza have been using social media to spread the news and are using the phrase “The heir is coming”

Conclusion

At this time it is quite difficult to judge the validity of El Mencho’s death, especially in light of the fact that stories of El Mencho dying have spread online several times over the years, only to be proven false.

The key question through all this is whether or not El Vaca’s passing reference merely inspired the Guadalajara local reports, or if each of them stemmed from a separate line of information, thus increasing the chances that the news has some validity to it.

Sources: Denuncias Politicas Colima, La Voz de Michoacán