Mexican army arrests 'El Tony Montana', brother of country's most wanted cartel boss

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‘Scourge’ of fentanyl trafficking exacerbated by cartel use of border, US attorney says as Title 42 end looms

U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman told Fox News Digital that as the end of Title 42 looms, his office is keeping its focus on prosecuting drug traffickers and cartel-linked illicit drug dealers, while bolstering prevention campaigns.

The brother of the most wanted drug dealer in Mexico, known as El Tony Montana, was arrested on Tuesday, according to Mexican officials.

The army said it captured Antonio Oseguera in possession of weapons in a suburb of Guadalajara, the capital of the western state of Jalisco. It said he oversaw violent actions and logistics, and bought weapons and laundered money for the hyperviolent Jalisco New Generation Cartel, often known simply as the Jalisco Cartel.

In a press release, the Mexican State Department says that the arrest of Oseguera, the brother of notorious cartel boss Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, was a "forceful blow" to the cartel. 

Antonio Oseguera is on a Treasury Department sanctions list for his ties to the cartel. However, it was not immediately clear if there is a U.S. warrant of extradition request for him.

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Nemesio Oseguera, the leader of the Jalisco cartel. (U.S. Treasury Dept)

The Jalisco Cartel is arguably Mexico’s most powerful and violent. It made its reputation with brazen attacks on Mexico’s security forces, including a 2020 assassination attempt on Mexico City’s police chief that wounded him and killed three other people.

In 2015, cartel gunmen shot down a Mexican military helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.

MEXICAN CARTELS EXPANDING PRODUCTION OF FENTANYL AT RAPID RATES, EXPERTS SAY

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gestures during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City June 20, 2022. (REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo)

The cartel, which makes its money primarily by trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States, has ruthlessly expanded its territory beyond Jalisco, spurring bloodshed in states including Guanajuato and Michoacan, as well as reaching its tentacles into Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts in Quintana Roo.

The United States has offered a $10 million reward for El Mencho’s capture, but the cartel has violently fought past attempts to arrest him.

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 Soldiers and police block off an area where 35 bodies lie under an overpass in Veracruz, Mexico.  (AP)

Authorities previously arrested El Mencho’s wife, alleging she was involved in the cartel’s illegal activities and his daughter pleaded guilty in a U.S. court in 2020 to charges she carried out business for the cartel. 

Associated Press contributed to this report