Op-Ed: Mexico's Cartel Gamble Is a Risk Worth Taking

Mexico's latest clash with organized crime demonstrates the risk involved when the state swings at a cartel kingpin. Writing in the New York Times, Mexico-based crime reporter Ioan Grillo describes how the Jalisco New Generation Cartel responded after its leader, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, was killed by Mexican security forces with US intelligence help. Cartel operatives hijacked and torched vehicles across 20 of Mexico's 32 states, set businesses on fire, ambushed security forces, and effectively froze parts of the country—deploying what have come to be known as "narco blockades."

Grillo says the operation is both a win and a warning for President Claudia Sheinbaum: leaving bosses like Oseguera alone fuels impunity, but taking them out can trigger waves of violence that double as "violent lobbying" meant to pressure the state. Cartels don't run Mexico outright, he writes, but they have long exploited a weak, corrupt system—and any real shift will require both a tougher Mexican state and US action. But the latter doesn't mean military strikes: It means reducing the demand for drugs and the flow of guns. All in all, Grillo sees Sheinbaum's risky move as worthwhile: "Standing up to cartels in the face of their violent lobbying is a first step. A nation cannot cede its future to the threats of crime kings like Mr. Oseguera forever." Read the full op-ed.