The notorious Mexican drug lord “El Mencho” spent his final hours in a luxury villa with spacious rooms and manicured gardens – before being killed in an operation to capture him.
The feared drug trafficker, whose real name is Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, was injured in a military operation carried out by Mexican special forces on Sunday.
The 59-year-old leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is one of the nation’s most powerful criminal organisations, later died while being flown to Mexico City.
Pictures have emerged showing inside the villa located at the exclusive Tapalpa Country Club of weekend holiday homes, in the hills of Mexico’s western state of Jalisco.
‘El Mencho’ killing – as it happened
The exclusive gated area was where Oseguera Cervantes was spending time at the moment he was ambushed.
The two-floor home at number 39 has stone walls and a red-tiled roof, which provided a discreet hideout.
The images give a hint of the lifestyle of Oseguera Cervantes, showing rooms with sleek modern finishes and large windows – but also a messy kitchen, medicines and religious items.
In the kitchen, there are takeaway containers, mugs and other food items abandoned across the surface.
There are bottles and cartons of sriracha hot sauce, milk and water.
A wardrobe in a large bedroom has some neatly folded clothes and there are skincare products and perfume on a shelf.
Several containers of baby wipes were in a lower drawer.
Cabinets in one room were packed with treatments for a number of health conditions.
They included medicines for migraines, insomnia, acid reflux and fungal infections.
Vials of Tationil Plus, an antioxidant marketed for cellular protection, were found next to a dosage schedule in a freezer.
There was a cloth with a logo of Mayorquin, a high-end jewellery boutique based in Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara.
Religious items were pictured on a makeshift altar.
Figurines of Catholic saints included Mexico’s patroness, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the patron of lost causes, Saint Jude Thaddeus.
Violence breaks out after drug lord’s death
A Bible passage asserting trust in God was handwritten on a white sheet of paper.
Oseguera Cervantes had tried to escape through the back garden of his home to a wooded hillside.
He was hit by gunfire during the pursuit and died of his injuries while being airlifted away, Mexican authorities said.