The investigation documented CJNG operations in at least 35 states and Puerto Rico, a sticky web that has snared struggling business owners, thousands of drug users and Mexican immigrants terrified to challenge cartel orders. But someCJNGbossesdidnt follow those rules. [73] El Cholo was marked for death by El Mencho after he murdered a CJNG financial operator nicknamed "El Colombiano", but the assassination attempt was a failure. [28] Abigael was arrested by the Mexican Navy on 28 February 2015. We believe that we are very far from achieving the goal of reducing the flow of weapons that nurture organized crime and that generate violence in our country, said a senior Foreign Ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly about the issue. JALISCO CARTEL / 9 APR 2021 BY VICTORIA DITTMAR AND DARIO ZUZA EN Sanctions recently imposed by the United States and Mexico on CJNG members allegedly linked to two high-profile murders demonstrate that the criminal group is one of the few remaining with a traditional hierarchical structure. But when police interviewed suspects in the attack, they said, the men all claimed to be guns for hire, some of them low-level members of local criminal groups who had been armed and paid by the cartel. Pointing to more than 70,000 Americans who overdosed and died in 2017, Coleman said, Were fighting a war for our families, and (the cartels) are winning.. Closethe air vents. Mexico's President Andrs Manuel Lpez . And yet until last month, many here saw the rise of the cartel as an internal matter for the parties in an interminable drug war. American officials have described Ruben Oseguera-Gonzalez as a former second-in-command of the fast-growing and ultra-violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel. [3], Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes was born in July 1964 or 1966 in the rural community of Culotitln in Aguililla, Michoacn, Mexico. MEXICO CITY (AP) The Mexican army on Tuesday arrested the brother of the country's most wanted drug cartel boss, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, the Mexico Defense Department said. After his escape, the U.S. took its manhunt public. . Alderete also is accused of asking a criminal informant in Paducahfor assault rifles andagrenade launcherto supplya cartel "war" in Mexico,saidJesseRiddle, the Narcotics Unit captain with the McCracken County Sheriffs Office in Paducah. Today, the Justice Department and DEA announced a superseding indictment on charges of alleged continuing criminal enterprise against Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho," the undisputed leader of CJNG. El Mencho and his cartel, with more than 5,000 members worldwide, have a clear-cut objective: "They want to control the entire drug market," said Matthew Donahue, who oversees foreign operations for the DEA. American authorities are still seeking his extradition to the U.S. to face drug charges. "my name is PABLO OSEGUERA member carte Jalisco New Generation and pimp of the domestic sexual service house I've been calling you cause you've been speaking to one of my girls which offered you her service and you only made her lose her time. As the security forces moved to the area where El Mencho was allegedly hiding, a gunfight broke out between law enforcement officials and gunmen of the CJNG. Further details Roberto Alderete revealed about CJNG remain hidden in sealed documents. [14], In 1989, El Mencho was arrested again in San Francisco for selling narcotics. Flames leftMoralesdisabled and disfigured. El Mencho eventually joined the Milenio Cartel, gaining a reputation as a cunning sicario, or hitman, and then a boss of hitmen in Guadalajara, Jalisco's capital city. In America,ElMenchoexpectscartel members and associates to avoid violence, hidewealth anddisguise their CJNG affiliations, agents say. But in stark contrast to the flamboyant Pablo Escobar and El Chapo who carefully cultivated Robin Hood personas to offset their violent reputations, very little is known of El Mencho. Both governments are offering up to $30million and US$10million, respectively, for information leading to his arrest. [3] The claim of his death was soon afterwards backed by narcomantas messages which appeared around the city of Colima and which were written by the Mezcales (also known as Cartel Independiente de Colima), presumably headed by El Mencho loyalist Jos Bernab Brizuela Meraz, alias La Vaca. The Courier Journal's investigation into CJNG's surge comes during a recent wave of significantviolence among warring drug cartels in Mexico. [81] Jessica Johana is married to Julio Alberto Castillo Rodrguez (alias "El Ojo de Vidrio"), first arrested on May 1 2015. [17][22], To legitimize its presence, El Mencho's group launched a propaganda campaign against its enemies, denouncing extortions done by rival gangs against civilians, businessmen, and government authorities. Omar Garca Harfuch was shot three times in the June 26 attack but survived. During a brief telephonecallfrom prison in August 2019,Palomerasaid heis a family manwhonever harmed anyone. She got her older sister, a struggling single mom, involved to make quick money. Because it's here, A short film: What Courier Journal uncovered about Jalisco New Generation Cartel's El Mencho. An unscrupulous drugs cartel has issued an open letter in a bid to win over terrified locals. Lpez Obrador said the decision averted unnecessary bloodshed, but it was widely seen as a sign of governmental weakness. Initially, the CJNG produced methamphetamine, but then he moved to heroin production when the consumer demand changed. CJNGs rapid rise heralds the latest chapter in a generations-old drug war in which Mexican cartels are battling to supply Americans insatiable demand for narcotics. Even after El Mencho's girlfriend went to prison, the cartel quickly returned to the Gulf Coast with more loads of drugs. Pullup the seat. December 20, 2022. On November 15, troops arrested Rosalinda Gonzlez Valencia, wife of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," one of Mexico's most powerful drug traffickers and leader of the Jalisco Cartel . No one was killed in the fire exchange. Local officials noticed the shift as if it had happened overnight: Troubled boys were suddenly driving expensive pickups and wielding military-grade weapons. Critics say the Mexican president, known as AMLO, seems more concerned about using federal troops to keep South Americanimmigrants out of his country than challenging the cartels. "If an agent saw him, we couldnt say, 'Hey, were gonna grab El Mencho right now, take him and put him into custody.' [73] CJNG co-founder Erick Valencia Salazar also split with El Mencho and became a high-ranking leader in the Nueva Plaza Cartel. Make no mistake, Taylor said. They just had this rapid ascension because of their non-value of human life, no matter who you are, said Matthew Donahue, the DEAs deputy chief of operations. Ransom-seekers and other cartelsare responsible for many of those disappearances,with CJNG to blame for thousands,DEA agentssay. According to government sources, Acevedo Crdenas directed CJNG cells in Zacoalco, Tlajomulco, Cocula, Tapalpa and Atemajac de Brizuela, Jalisco. At least three women and six children, all apparently U.S. citizens, were slaughtered by drug cartel gunmen in northern Mexico. [75] El Cholo was later murdered, with his body being discovered stabbed and wrapped in plastic on a park bench in downtown Tlaquepaque on 18 March 2021. The Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacin - CJNG) is a criminal group that has evolved as a result of killings, captures and rifts in older cartels. Security forces suspect he is hiding in the rural terrains of Jalisco, Michoacn, Nayarit, and/or Colima, and is guarded by mercenaries with former military training. Last year was the deadliest in Mexicos recent history, with 35,588 homicides. We are seeing the threat to institutions, a reality already visible in some states and now reflected in Mexico City, Alfaro told reporters. One of the most sought after drug lords in the world, and. Essential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world. In 2009, the DEA detected that El Mencho was involved in another cocaine shipment originating from Ecuador. . From the shadows, he continues to lead CJNG with ruthless authority. [55] Two more shipments were then detected in 2013 from Mexico then again to the United States. The day the operation was inaugurated, intelligence reports stated that El Mencho was in Tonaya, which prompted an offensive to apprehend him. The billion-dollar criminal organization has a large and disciplined army, control of extensive drug routes throughout the U.S., sophisticated money-laundering techniques and an elaborate digital terror campaign, federal drug agents say. He promised hugs, not bullets. Now Mexicos AMLO is facing an outcry over soaring violence. "He was very minutely involved. In the sinister messages, the mobsters announce that the state is against the Operativa Blica - the Jalisco New Generation Cartel 's armed militia . In a Nov. 5 tweet, after nine people including six children with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship were killed by cartels(though different ones than CJNG), President Donald Trump vowed to assist Mexican officials "in cleaning out these monsters. The cartel alsorecruitsspies in theMexicangovernment and policeto keep its leaders out of jail and avoid drug busts. [88] He was later released in December 2016. [69] The businesses were a sushi restaurant in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, a tequila company in Guadalajara,[e] a rental cabin business in Tapalpa, and an advertising firm and agricultural company, both in Guadalajara. "[101] La Vaca was also reported to have defected from the CJNG because of El Mencho's death.[101]. Five years later, they discovered he had used firearms to facilitate his operations. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (Spanish: Crtel de Jalisco Nueva Generacin) or CJNG, formerly known as Los Mata Zetas, is a Mexican criminal group based in Jalisco which is headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho"), one of the world's most-wanted drug lords. Moreover, the U.S. lacks the authority to make arrests in foreign countries, said Evans, a senior DEA official. Oseguera Gonzalez pleaded guilty Friday to five counts of engaging in transactions with entities designated as having supported her father's criminal organization. Unlike the drug cartels of Pablo Escobars Colombia, Mexican drug trafficking organizations have rarely targeted top officials, in part to avoid a clash with the state and in part because they have found bribery a more useful tool than assassination. The 21-year-old's death was the latest bloodshed involving the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which was founded in 2009 and whose ruthless rise to global dominance has left an appalling history of . Through corruption and intimidation, CJNG has thrived, even as it found additional ways to make money. All rights reserved. This short film details The Courier Journal's investigation into CJNG and its leader, El Mencho, began in early 2019 and what was uncovered. [47][48] The battle extended throughout several municipalities in Jalisco; El Mencho's men blockaded several roads across the Guadalajara area to slow down the mobilization of law enforcement and facilitate their leader's escape. The attack forced the Valencia family to exile in Jalisco. This sanction was an attempt by the U.S. government to disrupt the inner circle of complicit family members within the CJNG and Los Cuinis and affect their finances in Mexico's domestic economy. In the hours after the attack, senior Mexican officials, including the mayor of Mexico City, refused to speculate on who might have been responsible. Theyve got their money," Williams said. A powerful and aggressive Mexican cartel appears to have made a plea to its enemies following hundreds of deaths in the country. [54], In 2007, the DEA discovered that El Mencho was involved in a cocaine operation that went through Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and ended in the United States. "I still expected that they would be in markets in the Southwest, a little bit into some of the other major corridors, such as Atlanta and Chicago, Evans said. Other bosses used threats of violence in the U.S., despite El Mencho's warnings against it. In Mexico, a DEA investigator said he was stunned when he learned CJNG cells were popping up in communities as small as Axton. In an international operation that stretches back to 2011 dubbed "King's Gold," Homeland Security investigatorsin Chicago uncovered a money laundering organization that funneled more than $101 million to CJNG and another cartel. Three other CJNG suspects were killed. CJNG members have followed relatives or friends who left Mexico for the U.S. to find jobs. [43] That same day, Miguel ngel Caicedo Vargas, the police chief of Zacoalco de Torres, was killed by CJNG hitmen. The sanction extended to the CJNG, his brother-in-law Abigael Gonzlez Valencia, and Los Cuinis. The Jalisco cartel has also shown itself to have nearly unlimited reach within Mexico. The cartel circulates these images of torture and execution on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to spread fear and intimidation. This article was published more than2 years ago. Bill Bodner, special agent in charge of the DEA's field office in . As part of the sanction, all the U.S.-based assets and/or assets in control of U.S. individuals on behalf of El Mencho, Gonzlez Valencia, the CJNG, and Los Cuinis, were frozen in the United States. Julio Alex Diaz. That fight has been waged across America over the past seven years, federal court records show: CJNG is also using a mix of street gangsand white-collar businessmen to move the drugs and hide the money. "We have a problem of corruption. (Video: Reuters). [10] At the age of 14 he started guarding marijuana plantations. Chicago prosecutors allegein court filingsthat LuisAlderetewas ahigh-level cartel operativewhoshopped for a hitman on Facebook to take care of a gang member in Cairo, Illinois, to silence him. A high-ranking state official in Jaliscosaid Americans are too quick to blame Mexico for the U.S. drug crisis. "Our community is paying a steep price," said Carlos Guevara, a senior policy adviser for UnidosUS, Americas largest Latino civil rights organization. The direct attacks of the CJNG against Mexico's security forces earned El Mencho a reputation among authorities as "principal enemy" of the state and as a dangerous criminal. U.S. drug agents believe he's in western Mexico, hiding in remote jungles or mountains of Jalisco, Colima or Michocan. The violent CJNG is widely viewed as the most powerful gang in Mexico alongside the Sinaloa Cartel. Businesses in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Los Angeles would buy the goldand then send the payments through wire transfers to Mexico including to Parra Pedroza's precious metals business. Adam died midsentence while writing a thank-you note to a friend on the eve of entering a rehab facility. Those who refuse bribesare threatened or killed. (24 November 2019). Security officials in the United States have been frustrated with the Mexican governments lack of a coherent strategy against the Jalisco cartel and the hampering of anti-drug operations by persistent corruption. Young people who are immersed in addiction problems are easy prey for these organized crime groups.. The president has said the cartel most likely attacked Garca Harfuch for his crackdown on its expansion. CJNGmembers or associates would sell drugs to traffickers inWisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, California, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois and North Carolina. Using others to deposit drug profitsin cartel-controlled bankaccounts. cuartoscuro shares The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in Mexico City and 27 states,. [53][56], On 27 September 2011, Mexico's Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR) issued an arrest warrant for El Mencho and offered MXN$2million for anyone who can help provide information that leads to his arrest. Americans who may not know of CJNG today should take note, Dodds said. Instead, The Courier Journals investigation documented cells where CJNG members moved in, settling into a luxury condo near downtown Nashvilles honky-tonk district; an upscale Hollywood high-rise apartment near Sunset Boulevard; and sidewalk-lined suburbs in Cairo, Illinois; Johnson City, Tennessee; and Kansas City, Missouri. "Theyre killing the next generation, and one of them was my son," Brenda Cooley said.