Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was born on 17 July 1966 in the rural community of Culotitlán in
Aguililla, Michoacán. El Mencho grew up in a poor family that cultivated avocados. He had five brothers: Juan, Miguel,
Antonio, Marín, and Abraham. He dropped out of
primary school in fifth grade to work in the fields. At the age of 14 he started guarding marijuana plantations. A few years later, he decided he wanted a better life for himself and
immigrated illegally to the U.S. state of
California in the 1980s. To conceal his identity in the U.S., he used different names and combinations, such as "Rubén Ávila", "José López Prieto", "Miguel Valadez", "Carlos Hernández Mendoza", and "Roberto Salgado", among others.
Time in the U.S. In 1986, he lived in the
San Francisco Bay Area. He was arrested by the
San Francisco Police at the age of 19 for stealing property and carrying a loaded gun. Two months after his arrest, his first child was born. According to border entry records, El Mencho crossed the
U.S.–Mexico border several times during the late 1980s under other aliases. The
DEA and Mexican investigators believe that it was during this time that he became involved in methamphetamine production and trade in
Redwood City, alongside his brother-in-law
Abigael González Valencia (alias "El Cuini"). In 1989, El Mencho was arrested again in
San Francisco for selling narcotics. He was deported to Mexico several months later, but re-entered the U.S. and resettled in San Francisco. In September 1992, he was arrested again, this time on federal drug charges in
Sacramento, California. According to court records, El Mencho and his brother Abraham were at a San Francisco bar known as the Imperial to carry out a
heroin deal: five ounces for US$9,500. Abraham was in charge of the transaction, while El Mencho acted as a lookout. El Mencho was 26 years old at the time, much younger than Abraham, but was savvy enough to recognize that the transaction was a set-up by the police. He told his brother that the men to whom they gave the heroin handed over perfectly stacked dollar bills instead of loose ones. Through a
wiretap conversation, the police overheard El Mencho warning his brother to never do business with them again since they were
undercover cops.
Arrest and deportation Three weeks after the incident both men were arrested by police. In court, El Mencho insisted that he was innocent. He said he was not involved in the heroin deal and that the undercover agents were lying about him handling the drugs. The prosecution insisted that both siblings were working together. El Mencho was left with few options; if he pleaded not guilty, his brother Abraham—who already had felony drug sentences on his record—would probably face
life in prison. His defense understood that if he decided on a
jury trial, he would likely be convicted. He decided to
plead guilty and protect his brother from life imprisonment. He was sentenced to five years and imprisoned at the
Big Spring Correctional Center in
Texas, which houses a large population of undocumented immigrants. After three years he was released from prison on
parole and
deported to Mexico at the age of 30. In Mexico, he joined the local police forces of
Cabo Corrientes and
Tomatlán in the state of
Jalisco. After some time he left the police and joined organized crime as a full-time member of the
Milenio Cartel. To strengthen his relationship with the Milenio Cartel, El Mencho married one of the clan leader's sisters,
Rosalinda González Valencia. It was in this criminal group that El Mencho would become a leading figure in organized crime. == Rise to leadership ==