El Tuli, The Right-hand Man Of Mexico's Most Wanted Drug Lord, Is Murdered.
- 26.02.2026, 9:21
An entire military operation was carried out to eliminate him.
According to authorities, following Sunday's operation that killed the head of the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartel, El Tuli offered a 20,000 pesos ($1,100) reward for killing any military personnel, writes the BBC.
Ugo César Macias Ureña, known as El Tuli or El Tulipan, was the right-hand man of El Mencho and was the main organizer of the riots that erupted after his death.
"According to central military intelligence, we were able to establish that Hugo "H," also known as El Tuli, was located in El Grullo, Jalisco. This person was the logistical and financial coordinator, as well as the main confidant of El Mencho," said the Minister of National Defense, General Ricardo Trevilla Trejo at a press conference outlining the chronology of the operation against the CJNG.
Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said that while in El Grullo, El Tuli directed road closures, arson attacks on cars, attacks on Army installations and National Guard units, as well as various businesses and government offices.
"Moreover, he promised 20,000 pesos for each military officer killed by the hands of the men of this criminal group," Harfuch said.
According to Trejo, authorities responded by raising an airborne special unit of the Parachute Rifle Brigade.
El Tuli attempted to flee in a car and, according to preliminary reports, opened fire on the officers who arrived to apprehend him, who responded by shooting him.
Ureña was carrying several weapons, more than 7.2 million pesos ($418,000) and nearly $1 million.
Thirty-three other alleged CJNG-linked criminals were also killed in clashes with law enforcement.
Who is El Tuli?"
The Milenio newspaper reports that ministerial investigations and intelligence reports list Hugo César Masias Ureña as one of the closest operational associates of the late Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.
This is confirmed by El Tuli's dedicated narcocorridos, songs of a genre popular in some regions of Mexico that praise drug traffickers and detail their lives.
According to Milenio, leaked documents and testimony from detained mercenaries list El Tuli as the direct leader of the strike cells that played a key role in controlling the territories.
According to authorities, Ureña was not officially named as El Mencho's successor, but quickly assumed operational control of the cartel after the leader's death.