According to a report by the United States Congressional Investigative Service, the criminal organization known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, has a presence in 28 of the 32 states of Mexico and due to its expansion on the northern border represents a severe threat to US national security.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) considers the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a maximum threat to the United States and describes it as the best armed criminal group in Mexico.
According to the US Congress report, the CJNG has expanded rapidly thanks to its high level of violence and the ability to co-opt officials from different levels of the Mexican government. The data indicates that this criminal group only needs to reach Sinaloa, Sonora, Durango, and Tlaxcala to dominate every state.
In addition, the report indicates that the cartel led by Nemesio Oseguera has extensive control and power in the states of Jalisco, Guerrero, the State of Mexico, Veracruz, Colima, and Nayarit.
Another factor that the CJNG exploited to expand its geographic domain was the infighting between factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, the report from the United States Congress notes.
It is precisely these two organizations that in recent years have increased the production and transfer of drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana.
The US authorities are mainly concerned that Mexican drug traffickers have increased their production of synthetic drugs, and according to health studies, the use of fentanyl is related to the highest number of recorded overdose deaths.
According to the analysis of security specialists, the coronavirus pandemic and its mobility restrictions motivated the cartels to diversify the transport of drugs, using submersible boats, drones, ultralights, and tunnels. They also got involved in the purchase of cryptocurrencies to move their illicit profits.
It is also worrying that the CJNG has learned to use armed drones and has used them to carry out attacks in states such as Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Michoacán, thus generating an emerging security problem for the Mexican army.
The US Congress analyzes the effect of the pandemic on drug flows and cartel activity and the possibilities for the administration of Presidents Joe Biden and Andrés Manuel López Obrador to promote a joint security association to improve the fight against criminal organizations.
They also stressed that the expansion of large criminal groups has caused a significant increase in violence in Mexico and this is reflected in the high rates of intentional homicides, which has led critics of the Mexican government to point to the failure of the strategy of federal security.
In October 2020, a report by the US Department of Homeland Security designated Mexican cartels as a key threat to that country due to the ability of criminal groups to control Mexican territory and drug trafficking routes throughout the country.
With the recent capture of drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, head of the CJNG, became one of the most wanted drug lords by the DEA and is believed to use the mountainous areas of Michoacán, Colima, and Jalisco as a hideout, where he would have the protection of an army of hitmen and a network of corrupt police officers.
According to a report by the United States Congressional Investigative Service, the criminal organization known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led by . . .
