The Mexican government said it killed the nation’s most wanted cartel boss on Sunday, a major victory in its new offensive against the country’s criminal groups and a move that could help reduce pressure from President Trump, who has been threatening strikes in Mexico.

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was the longtime leader of one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and was widely regarded as one of the country’s most violent criminal figures. He presided over a criminal enterprise that expanded rapidly over the past decade, producing and selling drugs and extorting local businesses. He also built a reputation for brazen attacks on security forces and terrorizing communities across the country.

Mexican security forces led an operation Sunday to capture Mr. Oseguera in Tapalpa, a town of about 20,000, in the western coastal state of Jalisco, where his cartel was founded and based, the Mexican government said. At least seven cartel members were killed during the operation.

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