Sat, 09/30/2023 - 8:50pm
The Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación: The most significant security challenge in the Mexico-United States relationship
Raúl Benítez Manaut and Josué González
Este artículo está disponible en espanol aquí.
Introduction
The main objective of this text is to analyze how the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) went from being a minor and local group to becoming the criminal organization with the greatest geographical presence and power in the country in the last ten years. The CJNG has become the most significant security challenge in the Mexico-United States bilateral relationship due to its role in controlling fentanyl shipments like its counterpart, the Sinaloa cartel. The article contemplates a chronological order regarding the emergence, consolidation, expansion and current status of the CJNG.
During the second half of 2023, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is the largest organization in Mexico, with significant influence in the United States and other parts of the world.[1] Its leadership competes with Mexico's most prominent criminal groups, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Gulf-Northeast Cartel. It primarily engages in illicit drug trafficking, particularly the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.[2]
Since 2015, the CJNG has diversified its portfolio of activities to include extortion, kidnapping, hydrocarbon theft, and human trafficking, including migrants and the sexual trafficking of women, to name the main ones.[3] The main characteristics of the CJNG are the logistical capacity for drug transit, operations with a high level of violence through paramilitary structures (hitmen) and its ability for money laundering. The main weakness of the Mexican government's strategy is that it has been unable to capture its leader, Nemesio Oseguera, “El Mencho,” so the first generation of leadership continues in operation. That gives the CJNG a significant advantage over the Sinaloa Cartel. The kingpin strategy to capture leaders in the CJNG case has failed.[4]
https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/cartel-de-jalisco-nueva-generacion-most-significant-security-challenge-mexico-united
