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[6], On 18 December 2017, seventeen year-old YouTube star Juan Luis Lagunas Rosales, known as "El Pirata de Culiacn" (English: The Pirate from Culiacn), was gunned down in a bar in Jalisco by a group of four men armed with rifles, shortly after Lagunas Rosales published videotaped insults towards El Mencho. he asked his team. This morning we were cowardly attacked by the CJNG, he wrote. [90][91] Rosalinda was later released after being granted a bail of 1.5 million pesos ($78,000) in September 2018, but remains criminally charged and will still face trial. Initial reports stated that El Mencho was captured in the operation, but the Mexican government later confirmed that he was not in custody. 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. His boss, Eddie Kane, Calumet's general manager, declined repeated requests for comment. He quickly amassed a privatearmy, with CJNG members recruitingor kidnappinghundreds of men in their 20s and boys as young as 12. 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. His defense understood that if he decided on a jury trial, they would likely win the case. [57] He was accused of organized crime involvement and illegal possession of firearms. In Guanajuato and elsewhere, President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador has debated how to respond to the cartels expansion and the surging violence it has brought. Sheriff's investigators say a Paducah, Kentucky, business owner who fell behind on a drug debt was warned last year by the cartel: "If we dont get our money, were gonna kill you and your family.. Two weeks before Garca Harfuch was targeted in an attack on his convoy, gunmen killed a well-known federal judge, Uriel Villegas Ortiz, and his wife, Vernica Barajas, in the state of Colima. CJNG members have followed relatives or friends who left Mexico for the U.S. to find jobs. Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes rules the ruthless Jalisco New Generation Cartel. For example, a Lexington waitress seekingcash to pay fordental assistant courses ended up making bank deposits that she didnt know were for CJNG, according to court transcripts. "How a Mississippi trooper almost took down the world's most powerful cartel boss". Mexican Army at the border with Guatemala (Photo shared by Guatemala's Army official Twitter) Alleged members of Mexico's ruthless Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known . [92], In April 2019, El Mencho's godson Adrin Alonso Guerrero Covarrubias was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and kidnapping. 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. [36], On 19 March 2015, in Ocotln, Jalisco, CJNG gunmen ambushed a Federal Police convoy. 1 killer. "But its a little different when you go to Boise, Idaho, and other small towns where they dont have the resources to really focus on an international cartel.". 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 . He shares intel with the DEA,but not his own people. A nine-month Courier Journal investigation reveals how CJNG's reach hasspread across the U.S. in the past five years, overwhelming cities and small towns with massive amounts of drugs. But in America, few know who he is or why his rise to power matters. The killing was ordered after Rosales dissed JNGC leader Oseguera Cervantes a.k.a El Mencho on social media (GRAPHIC) On 12 August 2003 his boss was arrested by Mexican authorities. A high-ranking state official in Jaliscosaid Americans are too quick to blame Mexico for the U.S. drug crisis. Alton Strupp and Matt Stone, Louisville Courier Journal. his anguished parents asked. El Mencho was left with few options; if he pleaded not guilty, his brother Abrahamwho already had felony drug sentences in his recordwould probably face life in prison. Throughout Mexico, more than 40,000 children and adults remain missing. Through corruption and intimidation, CJNG has thrived, even as it found additional ways to make money. Leave a Comment. Between 2014 and 2016, the only region in the country where the CJNG lost its territorial presence was in Mexico City. Mexico Citys top security official injured in apparent assassination attempt. Beginning in 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department designated El Mencho a "kingpin," along with his brother-in-law, Abigail Gonzlez Valencia, leader of the Los Cuinis cartel. No one was killed in the fire exchange. Hisoffice has prosecuted Sinaloa and CJNG members. Bounty: US$10 million offered from the U.S. government; MXN$30 million offered from Mexico's, Originally the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was known as "Los Mata Zetas" and was an, Other sources state that the tequila company is based in. They seized more than $1 million in drug moneyhis couriers were hauling to Mexico. In America, Hispanic workers find themselves looked atwith suspicion because of political rhetoric that brands the drug trade and immigration as one and the same, say advocates for those workers. Before they called themselves Jalisco New Generation, they were known as the Matazetas or Zeta Killers. These are young people who were engaged in other types of crimes such as petty theft, and then suddenly we see them at incidents related to organized crime, said Pedro Alberto Corts Zavala, the secretary of security in the municipality of Irapuato, Guanajuato state. The investigation documented how in each new community, CJNG uses local traffickers who can blend in to sell their drugs, with no regard for their race or ethnicity. In eightmonths, Sosas crew laundered about $1million for CJNG,stacking drugs and cash behind a wall of their trailer. Eight soldiers and Morales partner died. [99][100] In 2022, Insight Crime reported that El Mencho had in fact not been seen for years amid concerns about his poor health. The DEA detected that the CJNG had expanded its drug-trafficking operations internationally. 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. Its much more an ecosystem than it is a vertically integrated organization, said Alejandro Hope, a security analyst who writes a well-known column in Mexicos El Universal newspaper. The total death toll was 11; five police officers, three civilians, and three CJNG gunmen. The attack was a response by the CJNG to protect El Mencho, who was reportedly in the area for a meeting. The cartel is run by the. Just hours after the crash, the cartel carried out coordinated attacks in 39 cities, blowingup banks, gas stations and setting cars and semis on fire on major highways to slow down police reinforcements. In Mexico, El Mencho is a household name. Ronald - Jan 25, 2021. The DEA and Mexican investigators believe that it was during this time that he became involved in meth production and trade in Redwood City California (San Mateo County) alongside his brother-in-law Abigael Gonzlez Valencia (alias "El Cuini"). Courier Journal reporters pieced together CJNGs network, from the suburbs of Seattle, the beaches of Mississippi and South Carolina, Californias coastline, the mountains of Virginia, small farming towns in Iowa and Nebraska, and across the Bluegrass State, including in Louisville, Lexington and Paducah. There, amid the lush pastures and white rail fences, a Mexican immigrant with asinister secret quietly groomed prized thoroughbreds at historic Calumet Farm, according to court records. With a $10 million reward on his head, hes on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations Most Wanted list. Other bosses used threats of violence in the U.S., despite El Mencho's warnings against it. . Oseguera, 30, is known as "Menchito," after his father, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, 53, the fugitive leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, considered one of Mexico's. [89], In May 2018, El Mencho's wife Rosalinda was arrested on money laundering charges. But will Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka El Mencho, do what he's been threatening for . But someCJNGbossesdidnt follow those rules. [74] They also have formed a rivalry with El Mencho and the CJNG as well. cuartoscuro shares The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) operates in Mexico City and 27 states,. Omar Garca Harfuch was shot three times in the June 26 attack but survived. It hauled inmore than 3 kilos of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid so potent that an amount as small as Abraham Lincoln's cheek on a pennycan be fatal. Immigrants, some fleeing criminal violence themselves, can be victimized by cartels on both sides of the border and unfairly targeted by U.S. political rhetoric or perceptions stoked by cartel crime. Ransom-seekers and other cartelsare responsible for many of those disappearances,with CJNG to blame for thousands,DEA agentssay. [55] Two more shipments were then detected in 2013 from Mexico then again to the United States. [67], On 8 April 2015, the United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned El Mencho under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ("Kingpin Act") for his involvement in international drug-smuggling operations. 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. December 20, 2022. The sanction extended to the CJNG, his brother-in-law Abigael Gonzlez Valencia, and Los Cuinis. [17] The blockades were placed in strategic routes to prevent police reinforcements to come in or leave Guadalajara. "Our community is paying a steep price," said Carlos Guevara, a senior policy adviser for UnidosUS, Americas largest Latino civil rights organization. "It's important for all Americans to understand the threat to their community and what might impact their everyday lives," Evans said. Young people who are immersed in addiction problems are easy prey for these organized crime groups.. Agents say he typically travels in a convoy, surrounding himself withdozens of well-trained mercenaries armed with military-grade weapons that can tear through tanks, even aircraft. En mars 2020, le cartel de Jalisco Nouvelle Gnration tait implant dans vingt-quatre des trente-deux tats du Mexique. Passed over for promotion, ElMenchoteamed withhis in-laws who ran an affiliatedcartel and forged his own criminal organizationin early 2011 CJNG. In the video, six armed men surround a masked man who claims to be cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho." "As a leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel, I'm . El Menchos powerful international syndicate is flooding the U.S. with thousands of kilos of methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl every year despite being targeted repeatedly by undercover stings, busts and lengthy investigations. In cases in which immigrants resist the cartel's offer, CJNG members often threatened violence to them or their loved ones back in Mexico, according to court cases and law enforcement officials. The Courier Journal could not say with certainty who supplied the drugs that killed Adam Cooley. 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. Both are now in prison for money laundering, and her sister, who has two children living in Kentucky, faces deportation. He was sentenced to 5 years and imprisoned at the Big Spring Correctional Center in Texas, which houses a large population of illegal immigrants. El Mencho is allegedly responsible for coordinating global drug trafficking operations. That designation allowed the department to levy sanctions against Mexican businesses linked to the cartels, includinga sushi restaurant, a tequila business, shopping centers, a medical clinic, two newspapers and famed Hotelito Desconocido, visited by Hollywood stars. [58] In March 2014, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, based on the previous investigations by the DEA, indicted El Mencho for several charges, including drug trafficking and for being leaders of a "Continuing Criminal Enterprise". He was released on July 1 for lack of evidence, but was re-arrested again on April 6 2016, for his involvement in the CJNG. Mexican marines almost captured El Mencho in October 2018. Analysts blame much of the killing on turf wars between the Jalisco cartel and its rivals as it expands into new territory. 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. One byproduct of the cartels recruitment campaign was that teenage drug dealers and petty thieves suddenly found themselves working as transnational criminals. At night,from 2015 through April2017, Maciasdirected the flow of $30 millionworth ofheroin, cocaine, ecstasy, crystal meth and fentanylfromMexico to Kentucky's two largest cities:Lexington and Louisville. Hearing more details, the investigator, who asked not to be identified to protect his work, acknowledged to The Courier Journal: "Its a great strategy.". [28], El Mencho was able to make the CJNG one of Mexico's most profitable criminal gangs. When authorities arrested him, they found twoassault rifles, one inscribed with "Menchito" little Mencho and anotherengraved with"CJNG 02 JR.". [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. Brenda and Karl Cooley of Louisville certainly didnt know his name when their son Adam overdosed on fentanyl in March 2017. [17][18], On 28 October 2009 the Milenio Cartel's top leader scar Orlando Nava Valencia (alias "El Lobo") was arrested. Robertois awaiting sentencing in Paducah in August for trafficking meth while armed with a gun. MEXICO CITY Before they allegedly tried to assassinate this city's police chief, the foot soldiers of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel already had left a bloody wake across the country. Ciro Macias Martinez led a double life, working as a horse groomer by day and overseeing the flow of $30 million worth of drugs into Kentuckyby night before being imprisoned in 2018 for meth trafficking and money laundering, federal records show. 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. But the extradition of close associate Juan Padilla 'El . among them Rubn Oseguera Gonzlez, known as "Menchito" (Little Mencho), who was . 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. Then the group sent three dozen men armed with military-grade weapons into one of the countrys most exclusive neighborhoods, authorities say, to kill the capitals top security official. "It was almost unbelievable, the things we were hearing, theamountof drugs," said Benjamin Taylor, who oversees investigations for Homeland Security in Gulfport, Mississippi. [88] He was later released in December 2016. El Menchos drug empire "is putting poison on the streets of the U.S.," said Chris Evans, who runs the DEAs day-to-day global operations. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has become Mexico's most powerful criminal organization, dominating the trade in fentanyl and methamphetamines and protecting its business by attacking Mexican . It is known for its aggressive use of violence and its public relations campaigns. American daughter of Mexico's fugitive cartel leader facing up to 30 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to doing business with his Jalisco New Generation Cartel [46], In the small town of Villa Purificacin, Jalisco, El Mencho's men shot down a Mexican Army helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, killing 9 soldiers. The day the operation was inaugurated, intelligence reports stated that El Mencho was in Tonaya, which prompted an offensive to apprehend him. U.S. officials have documented the cartels strategy of using extreme violence to overwhelm local populations. [4][8] He has alternative aliases like "Nemecio", "Rubn Acerguera Cervantes", "Lorenzo Mendoza", and "Nemesio Oseguera Ramos". Betrayal led to the drug ring'scollapse. Many are committed by cartels. He said he was not involved in the heroin deal and that the undercover agents were lying about him handling the drugs. He was not a millionaire," Beaumont said. [10][17] To strengthen his relationship with the Milenio Cartel, El Mencho married one of the clan leader's sisters, Rosalinda Gonzlez Valencia. The other division refused El Mencho's request, prompting an internal war. [65], On 16 October 2018, the Departments of State, Justice, and Treasury announced a joint law-enforcement measure against the CJNG, and increased El Mencho's bounty to US$10million from US$5million. In the 1990s, Abraham was given a 10-year prison sentence in California. Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, known as El Menchito, is believed to be the second-in-command . Two of his bodyguards were killed. "The threat of Mexican cartel violence and the drugs they bring into our nation cant be overstated," said Russell Coleman, the top federal prosecutor for the Western District of Kentucky. [52] El Mencho is believed to live a modest lifestyle compared to other drug kingpins such as Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn and other members of the CJNG in order to keep a low profile and to avoid detection from law enforcement. [49], According to the Mexican government, El Mencho may be hiding in the state of Jalisco, the CJNG's stronghold. All their U.S.-based assets were frozen, and once again U.S. citizens were prohibited from doing business with them. In June 2015, the Mexican military arrested El Menchos son and second-in-command, Rubn Oseguera Gonzles. [87] El Mencho's brother-in-law Elvis Gonzlez Valencia was arrested in 2016 as well. In Jalisco, El Mencho and the Milenio Cartel formed an alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel subgroup headed by Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, a high-ranking drug lord and ally of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn. According to government sources, he is responsible for overseeing the CJNG's entire drug trafficking operations in the states of Jalisco, Colima, and Guanajuato, where he created a bastion for methamphetamine production and trade. Reporters Jonathan Bullington, Kala Kachmar, Chris Kenning andKarol Suarez contributed to this story. Essential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world. [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. [26] Internationally, the CJNG reportedly has ties with criminal groups in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. These attacks brought him increased government attention and an extensive manhunt. In 2009, the DEA detected that El Mencho was involved in another cocaine shipment originating from Ecuador. Using others to deposit drug profitsin cartel-controlled bankaccounts. . By 2014, cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, was indicted by a district court in Washington, D.C., on charges of running a "continuous criminal enterprise," and for. Adults and children are forced to work in CJNG's crude meth super labs vats on patches of dirt hidden in the jungle. "We consider this cartel to be one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations on the face of the Earth, and it is doing unimaginable damage to the people of this nation," Sessions said. Mexican security forces say they have arrested one of the leaders of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel. She got her older sister, a struggling single mom, involved to make quick money. "A very big, increasing problem. The strategy: Make it illegal for any U.S. citizen or company to spend money at a cartel-affiliated business. Closethe air vents. Unlike his reclusive father, the 25-year-old lived in a luxury high-rise apartment in downtown Guadalajara and often stepped out in designer clothes to eat in fancy restaurants. During a brief telephonecallfrom prison in August 2019,Palomerasaid heis a family manwhonever harmed anyone. Both governments are offering up to $30million and US$10million, respectively, for information leading to his arrest. ", "The cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!". Photos of Cartel Jalisco New Generation leader Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera and methamphetamine confiscated in a local operation are displayed at a news conference at the DEA San Diego office . He was released from prison on several occasions for lack of evidence, but was re-arrested each time by the police for additional charges. It was an arrangement that allowed for rapid growth; rather than building a trafficking infrastructure, it co-opted and reshaped an existing one. The cartel controls the movement of more than a third of all drugs consumed in the United States, U.S. officials say, and has expanded into Europe and Asia. While officials can't say how much of the U.S. drug trade comes from CJNG, they predict the powerful organization is poised to supplant the more well-known and established Sinaloa Cartel as the world's most powerful drug trafficking organization. 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. Its extreme savagery in Mexico includes beheadings, public hangings, acid baths, even cannibalism. [101], In February 2022, there were unconfirmed reports stating that El Mencho had died from respiratory arrest while undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Guadalajara. Throughout 2019, reporters analyzed thousands of court records of more than 100 criminal drug cases around the country and talked to more than 150 federal drug agents, police officers, defense attorneys and prosecutors. Five were arrested, and one alleged gang member died in. August 4, 2022 CJNG sicarios posed with their faces uncovered in a series of 2021 photos. December 1, 2021 Today, the U.S. Department of State is announcing a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez, an alleged high-level member of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG - Jalisco New Generation Cartel). He told his brother that the men to whom they gave the heroin handed over perfectly stacked dollar bills instead of loose ones. A powerful and aggressive Mexican cartel appears to have made a plea to its enemies following hundreds of deaths in the country. The prosecution insisted that both siblings were working together. The U.S government has crippled dozens ofbusinessesthat supported CJNGandsentElMenchosson and chief financial backer to prison, along with members of his inner circle. [9] Some sources state that his birth-given name was Rubn but that he changed it to Nemesio in memory of his godfather. His name was Pablo Oseguera. Smaller police forces. He is wanted for drug trafficking, organized crime involvement, and undocumented possession of firearms. So instead of blaming, we should look for solutions.. This sanction was also result of another investigation done by the Treasury and the DEA office in Los Angeles. "If that takes them killing other cartels or killing innocent people, they will do it.". He is the most-wanted person in Mexico and one of the most-wanted in the U.S. [14] 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. The president has said the cartel most likely attacked Garca Harfuch for his crackdown on its expansion.