“El Mencho” is useless.
This weekend, Mexican Military Particular Forces killed Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the highly effective Jalisco New Era Cartel (CJNG) in Tapalpa, Jalisco, Mexico. Following affirmation of El Mencho’s dying by federal authorities, specialists anticipate a profound reconfiguration of the world drug trafficking panorama, a state of affairs that might lead to a brand new and harmful wave of violence.
The main focus will flip to the CJNG’s mechanisms of management, intimidation, financing, and recruitment that granted the cartel unprecedented operational capability. A lot of its energy stemmed from the weakening of long-standing rivals via the refined use of social media and synthetic intelligence, state-of-the-art specialised weaponry, and a versatile inner construction.
The US State Division says that CJNG maintains a presence and contacts in “virtually all of Mexico,” the American continent, and nations reminiscent of Australia, China, and numerous Southeast Asian nations. The company underscores the cartel’s prison versatility: As well as to fentanyl trafficking, it is concerned in extortion, migrant smuggling, oil and mineral theft, and illicit arms commerce.
How Was the CJNG Born?
The CJNG traces its roots to the Sinaloa Cartel, led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as “El Chapo.” Round 2007, this group shaped an armed wing in Jalisco below the command of Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villarreal. This was the Milenio Cartel, also called Los Valencia. Throughout this era, Guzmán’s operatives have been vying for management of Jalisco territories towards Los Zetas, a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel.
In its early years, the CJNG offered itself as “Los Mata Zetas” (The Zeta Killers). According to the BBC, its first documented look occurred in September 2011, when it claimed duty, via a video circulated on social media, for the discovery of 35 our bodies in Boca del Río, a municipality in the state of Veracruz.
By then, the alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel had already fractured after a confrontation with federal forces that culminated in 2010 with the dying of Ignacio Coronel. Management fell to Oseguera Cervantes, who spearheaded a speedy growth in methamphetamine manufacturing and trafficking.
Cartels Embracing Tech
In lower than 5 years, the CJNG displaced the Knights Templar from southern Michoacán and expelled Los Zetas from northern Jalisco and components of Zacatecas. After Guzmán Loera’s seize and extradition, the group strengthened its technique by recruiting monetary and chemical specialists to enhance the manufacture of artificial medication and diversify its revenue via money-laundering schemes in sectors reminiscent of livestock, mining, agriculture, and building, in addition to increasing extortion of small- and medium-size companies.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) notes that the CJNG operates in additional than 40 nations and has a monetary construction generally known as Los Cuinis, headed by Abigael González Valencia, Oseguera’s brother-in-law. This community coordinates money-laundering operations via worldwide commerce, cryptocurrencies, and hyperlinks with Asian networks.
A number of investigations have documented the use of digital instruments for recruitment and fraud. In 2024, Interpol warned that teams like the CJNG have been concerned in large-scale financial scams supported by AI, pure language fashions, and cryptocurrencies. It additionally detected the growth of human trafficking for forced criminal activity in scam compounds.
A research by El Colegio de México, in collaboration with the Civic AI Lab at Northeastern College in Boston, revealed that TikTok has change into a recruitment tool for Mexican cartels, together with CJNG. The analysis recognized 100 lively accounts linked to illicit organizations and categorized their content material as recruitment, border crossings, unlawful companies, prostitution, propaganda, and arms gross sales. Forty-seven % of the accounts promoted the recruitment of recent members, and 31 % disseminated propaganda messages. The report highlighted that the CJNG accounted for 54.3 % of the detected accounts, adopted by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Northeast Cartel.
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