Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, often known as “El Mencho,” was the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. On Sunday, the Mexican military killed him during raids. In some parts of Mexico, the large drug raids caused widespread violence.
The operation resulted in the deaths of over three dozen criminals, and the ensuing mayhem erupted across. Omar García Harfuch, Minister of Security, stated. They killed one civilian and 25 soldiers of the National Guard.
Jalisco New Generation Cartel: What is it?
Founded in 2009, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (CJNG) is a global criminal organization. Oseguera, 59, was one of CJNG’s original members.
According to the US Counter Terrorism Guide, it primarily works “throughout Mexico, with strongholds in Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima,” and has between 15,000 and 20,000 members.
The CJNG is well-known for both its public relations initiatives and its violent use of violence. Despite the arrest of several of its senior executives, it is still one of Mexico’s biggest criminal concerns and seems likely to keep growing, according to Insight Crime.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation is one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal organizations, having developed from the ashes of the Milenio Cartel, which was associated with the Sinaloa Cartel.
According to the US Counter Terrorism Handbook, the CJNG broke away from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010 and has been spreading throughout Mexico since 2018. By 2025, the Sinaloa Cartel’s primary rival is the CJNG.
CJNG is a “terrorist organization” according to the US
“The US State Department designated CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity in February 2025,” according to the US Counter Terrorism Guide, citing Washington’s designation of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation as a terrorist organization and charges of smuggling cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) “is a primary supplier of illicit fentanyl to the United States, and one of Mexico’s most powerful, influential, and vicious transnational criminal organizations,” according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
CJNG has “become autonomous from important individuals tied by blood ties or marriage to the Gonzalez-Valencia money laundering group, known as Los Cuinis,” according to the statement.
The franchising model of CJNG
According to the US Department, CJNG is one of the primary suppliers of cocaine to the US market and, like the Sinaloa Cartel, makes billions of dollars from the production of illegal synthetic drugs.
Furthermore, according to the US Counter Terrorism Guide, the CJNG’s illicit operations bring in billions of dollars every year. In addition to numerous nations in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Europe, the organization traffics drugs to the US, Australia, and Canada.
It further states that CJNG is able to import precursor chemicals to make methamphetamine and fentanyl because of its de facto control of the Port of Manzanillo in Colima, Mexico.
Additionally, CJNG claims to make money from timeshare fraud, illicit mining and logging, kidnapping, fuel theft, extortion, and migrant smuggling.
This gang and other CJNG factions are accused of laundering illicit drug-related revenues through trade-based money laundering, cryptocurrency exchanges, bulk cash smuggling, Chinese Money Laundering Networks (CMLNs), and other means.
Leadership and work style of CJNG
El Mencho, also known as Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, was one of the co-founders of CJNG. On Sunday, a government operation resulted in his death.
Ruben Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, is the group’s founder and general leader. According to the US Counter Terrorism Guide, the CJNG maintains a “hierarchical command structure” whereby regional leaders oversee daily operations.
According to the US, CJNG expands beyond its strongholds in Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima by using a franchise model, which is an affiliation arrangement between CJNG and smaller, local cartels.
According to the DEA, Oseguera Cervantes has suffered many drug trafficking indictments in the US since 2017.
Oseguera Cervantes was accused in April 2022 of using a firearm during and in connection with narcotics trafficking offenses, conspiring to produce and sell methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl for importation into the United States, and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.
In addition to declaring Oseguera Cervantes a fugitive, the US offered a reward of up to $15 million for information that would result in El Mencho’s arrest and/or prosecution.
