Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
“Manchu” is dead.
This weekend, Mexican Army special forces killed Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, head of the powerful New Jalisco Cartel (CJNG) in Tapalpa, Jalisco. Mexico. After federal authorities confirmed El Mencho’s death, experts expect a profound reshaping of the global drug trafficking landscape, a scenario that could lead to a new and dangerous wave of violence.
The focus will shift to the party’s mechanisms of control, intimidation, financing and recruitment, which gave the cartel unprecedented operational capacity. Much of its power stems from weakening old rivals through sophisticated use of social media and artificial intelligence, modern specialized weapons, and flexible internal structures.
US Department of State He says The CJNG maintains a presence and contacts in “almost all of Mexico,” the American continent, and countries such as Australia, China, and various Southeast Asian countries. The agency underscores the cartel’s criminal diversity: in addition to fentanyl trafficking, it is involved in extortion, migrant smuggling, oil and mineral theft, and illicit arms trade.
How was CJNG born?
The CJNG has its roots in the Sinaloa Cartel, led by… Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as “El Chapo”“. Around 2007, this group formed an armed wing in Jalisco under the leadership of Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villarreal. This was the Milenio cartel, also known as Los Valencia. During this period, Guzmán’s agents were vying for control of Jalisco territory against Los Zetas, a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel.
In its early years, the CJNG presented itself as “Los Mata Zetas” (The Zeta Killers). According to the BBCIts first documented appearance was in September 2011, when it claimed responsibility, through a video circulated on social media, for the discovery of 35 bodies in Boca del Río, a municipality in the state of Veracruz.
By then, the alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel had already collapsed after a confrontation with federal forces that culminated in the 2010 killing of Ignacio Coronel. Leadership fell to Oseguera Cervantes, who led the rapid expansion of methamphetamine production and trafficking.
Cartels embrace technology
In less than five years, the CJNG had displaced the Knights Templar from southern Michoacan and expelled Los Zetas from northern Jalisco and parts of Zacatecas. Following the arrest and extradition of Guzman Loera, the group strengthened its strategy by recruiting financial and chemical specialists to strengthen the synthetic drug industry and diversify its income through money laundering schemes in sectors such as livestock, mining, agriculture and construction, as well as expanding the scope of extortion of small and medium-sized businesses.
US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Notes CJNG operates in more than 40 countries and has a financial structure known as Los Cuinis, headed by Abigail Gonzalez Valencia, Oseguera’s brother-in-law. This network coordinates money laundering operations through international trade, cryptocurrencies and links with Asian networks.
Numerous investigations have documented the use of digital tools for recruitment and fraud. In 2024, Interpol to caution In which groups such as the CJNG participated Large-scale financial frauds powered by artificial intelligenceNatural language models and cryptocurrencies. It also revealed the expansion of the phenomenon of human trafficking Forced criminal activity in fraud complexes.
A study conducted by El Colegio de México, in collaboration with the Civic AI Lab at Northeastern University in Boston, revealed that TikTok has become… Recruitment tool For Mexican cartels, including CJNG. The research identified 100 active accounts linked to illicit organizations and classified their content as recruitment, border crossings, illicit businesses, prostitution, propaganda and weapons sales. 47% of accounts promoted recruiting new members, and 31% posted sponsored messages. The report highlighted that CJNG represented 54.3% of the accounts discovered, followed by the Sinaloa Cartel and Northeast Cartel.