The Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) – in English the Jalisco New Generation Cartel – stands today among the most infamous organized crime groups on the planet. Emerging from the complex tapestry of Mexico’s drug war, CJNG has grown from a violent regional faction to a sprawling transnational syndicate with influence stretching across all of Mexico’s federal entities and into numerous other countries. Over the past decade, its rise has reshaped the dynamics of cartels in the Americas and made it a central focus of international law enforcement and counter-narcotics operations.
Origins in the Mexican Underworld
CJNG has its roots in the fragmentation of Mexico’s drug trafficking landscape in the early 2010s. When authorities dismantled the Milenio Cartel – itself a derivative of larger Sinaloa-aligned networks – the power vacuum gave rise to several splinter groups. Among them was the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, founded in 2009 in the state of Jalisco, home to Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara. Its founders included Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes – widely known as “El Mencho” – along with other key figures who leveraged the residual structures of Milenio to establish a new criminal force.
In contrast to some earlier criminal syndicates, CJNG adopted a highly militarized and hierarchical model from the beginning. Praised or feared for its discipline and ruthlessness, the group began to expand aggressively, initially consolidating control in western Mexico before pushing into central, northern, and southern territories. Over the next decade, it developed a reputation not only for drug trafficking but also for a brutal approach to consolidating power – using violence as both a tactical and psychological weapon to intimidate rivals, security forces, and local populations.
Organizational Structure and Criminal Portfolio
CJNG’s structure broadly resembles that of a paramilitary organization. While traditional cartels rely on loose networks of allied cells, CJNG has usually maintained a more centralized command, with a clear chain of command from top leadership down to regional lieutenants. This has enabled the cartel to coordinate operations across vast geographic swaths, embed franchise-style affiliates in smaller communities, and project influence with tactical precision.
At its core, CJNG has prioritized drug trafficking – especially fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin – as its most lucrative enterprise. It controls or heavily influences key drug production and trafficking routes, including access to important Pacific coast ports such as Manzanillo, which serve as conduits for precursor chemicals and finished product shipments. But CJNG’s revenue streams are far more diverse: extortion, kidnapping, human smuggling, fuel theft, illegal mining, money laundering, and sophisticated scams (including timeshare fraud) contribute to its massive income.
CJNG’s financial operations often operate like legitimate entrepreneurial ventures, with complex networks that move funds across borders via money-laundering hubs, shell companies, and even modern technologies like cryptocurrency. This hybrid business-criminal model has enabled the cartel to amass billions of dollars while continually reinvesting in its logistical and violent capacities.
Expansion and Height of Power
By 2025, CJNG had achieved a chilling milestone: it became the first cartel in Mexican history to establish an operational presence across all 32 states of the country. This was a watershed moment, illustrating not only CJNG’s aggressive growth strategy but also its flexibility in embedding local affiliates or alliances in disparate regions.
This nationwide spread made CJNG a dominant competitor to the historically powerful Sinaloa Cartel — formerly headed by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — while also heightening rivalries with other criminal groups such as Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacana, and various local mafias. These conflicts produced waves of violence that devastated communities, destabilized regions, and frequently overwhelmed local law enforcement.
Violence, Tactics, and Public Impact
CJNG’s operational methods have often been distinguished by an extraordinary degree of brutality. Public executions, mass kidnappings, cartel-style propaganda videos, and urban terror campaigns became trademarks of its strategic intimidation. The cartel also gained notoriety for deploying armed drones, explosive devices, and land mines — sophisticated weaponry that blurred the line between organized crime and insurgency tactics.
The psychological impact of CJNG’s tactics was profound. In some regions, entire communities lived under the threat of violence or forced cooperation, while businesses were coerced into paying extortion fees or risked arson and physical assault. Reports of ritualized brutality — including dismemberment and even cannibalism in extreme cases — circulated widely in media and social networks, underscoring the cartel’s role in terrorizing civilians as part of its territorial strategy.
U.S. Designations and International Law Enforcement Pressure
By early 2025, CJNG’s activities had drawn the attention of law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies far beyond Mexico. In a rare move, the United States government formally designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) — a designation that placed CJNG alongside globally recognized militant groups and opened new legal and operational avenues for targeting its financial and logistical networks.
This decision reflected growing concern about CJNG’s role in flooding international markets — especially the United States — with deadly synthetic drugs like fentanyl. The cartel’s heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine distribution also contributed to widespread addiction and overdoses, prompting coordinated responses from agencies like the DEA and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Throughout 2025, this pressure resulted in significant enforcement actions, including the arrest of CJNG leaders and operatives, large-scale seizures of drugs and weapons, and cross-border prosecutions of cartel figures. One notable case was the sentencing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes’s son, Rubén Oseguera-González (“El Menchito”), who was given a life sentence in U.S. federal court for his role in leading the cartel and trafficking massive quantities of drugs.
The Death of “El Mencho” and Aftermath
The year 2026 brought one of the most consequential blows yet to the CJNG’s leadership: the killing of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, better known as El Mencho. In a military operation conducted by Mexican armed forces — reportedly with U.S. intelligence support — Oseguera was killed in Tapalpa, Jalisco in February 2026, marking a dramatic moment in Mexico’s decades-long struggle against organized crime.
El Mencho’s death triggered immediate backlash from cartel operatives, who launched widespread violent reprisals including road blockades, arson attacks, and armed confrontations across multiple Mexican states. Major urban centers like Guadalajara experienced shutdowns, suspended flights, and school closures as security forces attempted to contain the unrest.
Beyond domestic turmoil, the news sent shockwaves through the international security community. El Mencho had been one of the most wanted criminals by both Mexican and U.S. authorities, with a reward of up to $15 million offered for information leading to his capture or conviction. His death is considered the most significant disruption to a cartel leader since El Chapo’s arrest in 2016 and was hailed by Mexican and U.S. officials as a major victory.
However, analysts and security experts caution that removing a singular leader does not necessarily translate to the collapse of an organization. Cartels like CJNG often possess resilient hierarchies, and power vacuums can lead to internal factionalism, increased violence, or attempts by rival groups to seize turf. Early reports after El Mencho’s death suggest exactly this pattern: retaliatory violence, continued attacks on security forces, and heightened instability in affected regions.
Global Implications and Future Trajectories
CJNG’s rise reflects broader patterns in transnational organized crime – where drug trafficking intersects with terrorism, digital finance, and sophisticated logistical networks. Its designation as a terrorist entity and the cross-border efforts to curtail its influence signal a fundamental shift in how governments approach the threat of cartels, treating them not merely as criminal syndicates, but as security threats with wide-ranging geopolitical impacts.
As CJNG transitions into a post-El Mencho era, several critical questions loom:
- Will a new leader consolidate power and maintain organizational cohesion?
- Can rival cartels capitalize on CJNG’s moment of vulnerability to expand influence?
- Will Mexico and its international partners develop sustainable strategies to counter cartel violence and curb illicit drug flows?
Answers to these questions will shape not only the future of CJNG, but also the broader landscape of security and governance in Mexico and beyond.
Conclusion
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel stands as a stark embodiment of the brutal evolution of organized crime in the 21st century. From its modest beginnings in Jalisco, it built a vast, violent empire sustained by drug trafficking, extortion, global logistics, and ruthless force. Its designation as a terrorist organization, the notable prosecution of key figures, and the recent killing of its founding leader represent major milestones in the fight against transnational crime.
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