Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican President, has stated that she is considering legal action in response to Elon Musk’s allegation that she is connected to drug cartels.
Musk’s post on X followed the capture, and k! Mexican security forces have killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader Nemesio Oseguera, also known as ‘El Mencho.
In the post, Musk responded to a 2025 video of Sheinbaum discussing cartel violence, claiming that she was “saying what her cartel bosses tell her to say.” He did not provide any additional evidence.
Mexico’s President said using military force against cartels is a “human rights violation”
Now those same cartels are destroying entire cities, killing innocent people, and displacing thousands of civilians from their homes
This is how leftists operate – they show empathy for… pic.twitter.com/aeiBHGjUiH— X Freeze (@XFreeze) February 24, 2026
‘We are considering whether to take legal action,’ Sheinbaum said at her daily morning press conference, adding that government lawyers are looking into the matter.
In the 2025 video, Sheinbaum said a return to a ‘war on drugs’ was not feasible.
‘Returning to the war on drugs is not an option … it is outside the framework of the law,’ she said.
The military offensive on cartels led by former President Felipe Calderon in 2006 led to bloody turf battles as gangs splintered, triggering a spiral of violence that many analysts see as a contributing cause to still-high homicide rates.
Sheinbaum said she expected security to continue to normalize in Mexico after cartel members coordinated a series of roadblocks and arson attacks following the government’s Sunday operation against Oseguera.
Asked if the operation marked a return to a more violent security stance, Sheinbaum said this would never be the case.
‘The detention of a suspected criminal with an arrest warrant can generate this type of circumstance, but we are looking for peace, not war,’ she said.