How the Jalisco New Generation Cartel Went from a Regional Gang to a Transnational Terror Network
Mexico’s drug‑trafficking world has always been fierce — but few criminal organizations have been as ruthless, sophisticated, and globally influential as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). What started as an offshoot of an older cartel has become one of the most powerful transnational criminal enterprises in the world. In recent years, the CJNG has not only dominated drug markets across North America but also diversified into terrorism‑style operations, extortion networks, fuel theft syndicates, and global trafficking corridors. This post dissects its origins, organization, criminal portfolio, international reach, violent tactics, and the unprecedented efforts by governments worldwide to dismantle it.
📌 Origins: From Milenio Cartel to Unstoppable Powerhouse
The CJNG did not emerge overnight. Its roots lie in the collapse of the Milenio Cartel in the late 2000s and early 2010s — a period marked by arrests, violent feuds, and fragmentation. Out of that chaos rose a group initially known as “Los Matazetas”, tasked with confronting one of Mexico’s most violent competitors: Los Zetas.
At the helm was Ruben Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — “El Mencho”, a former local police officer turned criminal strategist. Under his leadership, the group seized territory and resources with an ambition that far outstripped its rivals. By 2011, the CJNG shocked Mexico by publicly displaying 35 bodies in Veracruz, a brutal announcement of its entry onto the cartel stage.
From that point on, the CJNG’s evolution was aggressive and calculated — an organization driven by violence, territorial expansion, and strategic alliances.
🧠 How CJNG Is Structured: Business‑like, But Deadly
One of the features that makes CJNG structurally distinct from older cartels is its hierarchical command system combined with a franchise‑style model. Rather than centralize all operations, El Mencho’s leadership established a network of regional commanders who operate semi‑independently but remain loyal to the core CJNG leadership.
This approach allows CJNG to expand far beyond its original strongholds in Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima. Instead of top‑down orders alone, the cartel has affiliation agreements with local criminal groups — effectively turning them into CJNG franchises. These agreements grant local operators autonomy while integrating them into a wider distribution and enforcement network that spans much of Mexico and beyond.
In official counterterrorism documents, CJNG is estimated to have 15,000–20,000 members, not accounting for affiliates, foot soldiers, logistics networks, and financial operatives dispersed globally.
💊 Criminal Portfolio: More Than Just Drugs
While drug trafficking is the core of CJNG’s operations, its criminal portfolio is far more diversified — and eerily sophisticated.
🔹 Drug Manufacturing & Distribution
The cartel is a major supplier of multiple illegal drugs:
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid so potent that small amounts can devastate communities.
Methamphetamine
Cocaine
Heroin
According to global counterterrorism and residential law enforcement analyses, CJNG controls key drug trafficking ports — including Manzanillo in Colima — enabling the import of precursor chemicals vital for fentanyl and meth production and the export of finished drugs to global markets.
🔹 Fentanyl Economics
One single kilogram of fentanyl precursor can be turned into dozens of kilograms of finished product — with street value in the tens of millions of dollars — making it one of the most lucrative ventures CJNG engages in.
🔹 Beyond Drugs
The cartel also profitably engages in:
Fuel theft — smuggling stolen crude oil across borders, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Timeshare and financial fraud — using complex schemes to siphon funds from unsuspecting victims.
Kidnapping, extortion, migrant smuggling, illegal mining, and logging — all leveraging the cartel’s violent jurisdiction in rural and urban areas.
🌍 Global Reach: A Criminal Network Without Borders
The CJNG’s impact is not limited to Mexico.
Law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies identify CJNG as a global criminal enterprise with ties across continents. The cartel traffics drugs not just to the United States, Australia, and Canada, but maintains influence in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America.
In early 2025, Canadian authorities reported the seizure of 835 kilograms of cocaine linked to CJNG, marking the largest drug bust in Toronto’s history.
Additionally, U.S. enforcement actions in 2025 netted huge seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl powder, and counterfeit pills tied to CJNG networks — along with arrests and billions of dollars in asset seizures.
🔥 Violence as Strategy: Terror Tactics and Public Intimidation
Unlike older cartels that relied mostly on bribery and corruption, CJNG has weaponized violence as a strategic tool. Its methods include:
Drone warfare and explosive devices — rigged to attack law enforcement and security forces.
Kidnappings and executions designed to destabilize local communities.
Graphic displays of murders intended to terrorize populations.
In 2025, activists uncovered evidence of a CJNG camp known as the Izaguirre Ranch, where remains of recruits were found — a chilling indicator of the cartel’s internal enforcement and punishment tactics.
🛑 Government Crackdowns: Terrorist Designation and Legal Consequences
2025 marked an unprecedented escalation in governmental responses to CJNG’s threat.
🇺🇸 U.S. Actions
February 20, 2025: The U.S. Department of State officially designated CJNG as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity — placing the cartel in the same category as extremist terrorist groups for sanctions and prosecution.
The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions targeting cartel leaders and networks involved in drug trafficking, fuel theft, and financial crimes.
Legal actions have also led to the sentencing of key figures, including El Mencho’s son, Rubén Oseguera‑González (“El Menchito”), who was sentenced in U.S. courts to life plus 30 years and ordered to forfeit over $6 billion in proceeds tied to trafficking and violent crimes.
Massive enforcement surges in 2025 resulted in arrests, seizures of millions of counterfeit pills and tonnes of illegal drugs, and the disruption of cartel revenue streams.
These measures represent not just anti‑drug enforcement but a concerted counterterrorism strategy targeting CJNG’s international networks.
🧨 A Leader’s Fall, But Not the End
Recent reports in 2026 confirm Mexican authorities killed El Mencho, CJNG’s founder and longest‑serving leader, in a major security operation in Jalisco. This triggered violent cartel retaliation — roadblocks, burned vehicles, and confrontations with security forces — underscoring the cartel’s far‑reaching power even after his death.
Although his death is a symbolic blow to organized crime, analysts warn that the CJNG’s deep networks and decentralized structure mean **it may continue to operate — or even fracture violently as successors vie for control.**
📊 Final Takeaway: A Cartel That Became a Terror Network
The CJNG’s transformation — from a regional drug gang to a terror‑designated transnational empire — reflects both its brutal adaptability and the evolving nature of global organized crime. With sprawling criminal portfolios, international markets for deadly synthetic drugs, and tactics borrowed from insurgent warfare, the CJNG represents a new era in cartel power.
Governments worldwide, from Mexico to Canada and the United States, are recalibrating strategies — from sanctions and prosecutions to joint military and law enforcement cooperation — to contain this threat. But as the CJNG’s recent history shows, dismantling a network of this scale involves not just raids and arrests, but long‑term disruption of its economic, social, and political foundations.
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