What El Mencho’s death means for Mexico’s cartels
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mexico says it killed El Mencho, leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Within hours, highways burned and violence spread across multiple states. His death is being called a victory, but removing a kingpin doesn’t dismantle a cartel. What changes now for Mexico, and what doesn’t?
In this episode:
- Andalusia K Soloff (@Andalalucha), Journalist & Filmmaker
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Noor Wazwaz, Sonia Bhagat, and Marcos Bartolome, with Spencer Cline, Tamara Khandaker, Tuleen Barakat and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Sarí el-Khalili.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, Mexico says it is killed El Mentiono. The backlash was immediate. |
| 0:17.0 | Trucks dragged across roads and set on fire. Narka roadblocks, they call them here. |
| 0:21.6 | Mexico's most powerful drug trafficker was killed by the country's armed forces on Sunday morning. |
| 0:27.6 | This was his men retaliating. |
| 0:29.6 | What happens when the head of a cartel is gone, but the cartel isn't? |
| 0:35.6 | I'm Malika Bilal and this is the take. but the cartel isn't. |
| 0:40.0 | I'm Malika Bilal and this is The Take. |
| 0:50.1 | Hey everyone, as you're watching today's show, |
| 0:51.7 | leave us a note in the comments, |
| 0:56.6 | letting us know what you think about this news out of Mexico and what might happen next. |
| 1:06.3 | If you're listening on a podcast app, we want to hear from YouTube. Share your thoughts there and then give us a rating. Five stars makes it easier for other people to discover the show. |
| 1:25.9 | My name is Angela K. Soloff. I am a freelance journalist, filmmaker, and author of graphic novels in Morales, Mexico, just right outside Mexico City, and report largely on security issues, gender violence, and migration. |
| 1:28.6 | Andalusia, it is a pleasure to have you here. |
| 1:29.6 | Welcome to the take. |
| 1:36.6 | You were biking through a town in the state of Monellas on Sunday when Mexican government forces launched this operation. |
| 1:39.5 | It was a Mexico Special Forces operation. |
| 1:42.1 | They descended on the holiday town of Tapalpa, |
| 1:45.0 | gravely wounding Elmenschel. |
| 1:48.0 | The army says they airlifted him to hospital, but he died en route, leaving the Mexican government |
| 1:54.0 | triumphant. |
| 1:55.0 | So take me there to where you were, which is one of the places that retaliation was felt. |
... |
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