The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (, ), also known as CJNG, is a Mexican criminal syndicate based in Jalisco founded and headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, commonly known as El Mencho, until he was killed by the Mexican Army in 2026. The cartel has been characterized by extreme violence and public relations campaigns. Though the CJNG is known for diversifying into various criminal rackets, drug trafficking (primarily cocaine and methamphetamine) remains its most profitable activity. The cartel has been noted for cannibalizing victims during the training of newly inducted sicarios or members, as well as using drones and rocket-propelled grenades to attack rival groups.
CJNG started in 2009 as a splinter group of the Milenio Cartel, the other being La Resistencia. CJNG defeated La Resistencia and took control of Milenio's smuggling networks. CJNG expanded its operation network from coast to coast in six months, making it one of the criminal groups with the greatest operating capacity by 2012. Following the emergence of the cartel, homicides, kidnappings and discoveries of mass graves spiked in Jalisco. By 2018, the CJNG was believed to have over 100 methamphetamine labs throughout Mexico. Based on average street value, its trade could net upwards of $8 billion for cocaine and $4.6 billion for crystal meth each year. The CJNG are fighting the Nueva Plaza Cartel for control of Guadalajara; La Unión Tepito for Mexico City; Los Viagras and La Familia Michoacana for the states of Michoacán and Guerrero; Los Zetas in the states of Veracruz and Puebla; Cártel del Noreste in Zacatecas; the Sinaloa Cartel in Baja California, Sonora, Ciudad Juárez, Zacatecas and Chiapas; as well as the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in Guanajuato. They have an alliance with the Cártel del Golfo in Zacatecas and La Línea in Juárez.
CJNG is considered by the Mexican government to be one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Mexico and the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico. It is also considered the cartel with the most paramilitary firepower. CJNG is heavily militarized and more violent than other criminal organizations. It has a special operations group known as the Grupo Élite for specific types of warfare. Its hitman training program is strict and professional. The cartel is best known for its fights against the Zetas and Templarios, it has fought La Resistencia for control of Aguililla, Michoacán, and its surrounding territories.
In later time, it would be revealed that a major part of El Mencho's influence in the CJNG actually came through his marriage to Rosalinda González Valencia, herself highly involved in drug trafficking.
From 2018 to 2020, the CJNG engaged in 298 reported acts of gang-related violence, more than any other cartel. By 2020, US officials considered CJNG its "biggest criminal drug threat" and Mexico's former security commissioner called it "the most urgent threat to Mexico's national security". The group was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States Department of State during Trump's second term in February 2025, which seperately also includes the offering a $5 million reward for information that leads to the arrest of Flores Silva.
History With the capture of Óscar Orlando Nava Valencia in October 2009 and the death of Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, of the Sinaloa Cartel in 29 July 2010, a power vacuum emerged and the Milenio Cartel (then loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel) broke into smaller factions. The most notable were the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes "El Mencho" (who suspected the Sinaloa cartel had betrayed its leaders)Cartels unite in the fight against Los Zetas 20 September 2011 and La Resistencia headed by Ramiro Pozos "El Molca" who switched alliances to form a brief alliance with Los Zetas (La Resistencia was founded by Sinaloa to counter Los Zetas), and started a turf war for control of the region.
Some members of the Milenio Cartel, then a Sinaloa Cartel branch, who splintered and formed the CJNG were Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (El Mencho), Érick Valencia Salazar (El 85) and Martín Arzola Ortega (El 53). With this split, a turf war against La Resistencia, headed by Ramiro Pozos (El Molca), and Los Zetas for the control of the region started. Emilio Alejandro Pulido Saldaña, better known as "El Tiburón", was considered to be a co-founder as well.
First appearance
In June 2009, inside an abandoned truck in a residential neighborhood in Cancún, Quintana Roo, the Mexican authorities discovered the corpses of three men. Along with their remains was found the following message:
These murdered men were then linked to individuals who had been shown in a video on YouTube while being interviewed by masked men armed with assault rifles. A number of videos online confirmed the existence of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which was dedicated at that time to kill Gulf Cartel and Zeta members alike. In the interrogation videos done by the Mata Zetas, the captured cartel members confessed their criminal activities and gave out the names of police commanders and politicians who provided them with protection. According to Terra Networks, the government agency of the SEIDO received a phone call on 1 July 2009 from an unidentified man who said that the cartel members of Los Zetas were going to be "kidnapped and eliminated" from Cancún and Veracruz.
2011–2012 Veracruz massacres
2011 Veracruz massacres In spring 2011, the CJNG declared war on all other Mexican cartels and stated its intention to take control of the city of Guadalajara. However, by midsummer, the group appeared to have been reunited with its former partners in the Sinaloa Cartel. In addition to maintaining its anti-Zetas alliance with the Gulf Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel in 2011 affiliated itself with the Knights Templar in Michoacán. To counter Los Zetas in the state of Jalisco, the Sinaloa Cartel affiliated itself with the CJNG.
On 20 September 2011, two trucks containing 35 dead bodies were found at an underpass near a shopping mall in Boca del Río, Veracruz. All of the corpses were alleged to be members of Los Zetas, but it was later proven that only six of them had been involved in minor crime incidents, and none of them were involved with organized crime. Some of the victims had their hands tied and showed signs of having been tortured. According to El Universal, at around 17:00 an undetermined number of vehicles blocked a major avenue in Boca del Río. Once the traffic stopped, armed men abandoned two trucks in the middle of the highway. They opened the doors of the trucks and pulled out the thirty-five corpses, leaving a written message behind. Other gunmen pointed their weapons at the frightened drivers. The gunmen then fled the scene. Consequently, the stunned motorists began to grab their cellphones and post messages on Twitter warning other drivers to avoid the area. The message left behind stated the following:
The Blog del Narco reported on 21 September 2011 that the message was supposedly signed by Gente Nueva, an enforcer group that works for Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the top boss of the Sinaloa cartel. Nonetheless, on 27 September 2011, the CJNG released a video claiming they had carried out these attacks. They apologized for the massacres in Veracruz but reiterated their efforts to fight off Los Zetas, who, they claimed, "are not invincible." In the CJNG video, five men wearing balaclavas and completely black clothing are shown sitting behind a table. Then the man with the microphone states that the Matazetas are "warriors without a face, but proudly Mexicans", and that their objective is to eradicate Los Zetas. They claim in the video that they respect the Mexican Armed Forces and understand the government's stance against the drug cartels. The men in the video state that they understand and respect the government's decision of refusing to negotiate with the cartels. They also criticize the politicians who have protected Los Zetas. In addition, they claim that the Matazetas are "prohibited to extort, kidnap, steal, abuse, or do anything that will affect the national patrimony", and that they are the "armed wing of the Mexican people."
On 6 October 2011 in Boca del Río, Veracruz, 36 bodies were found by the Mexican authorities in three different houses. The Navy first discovered 20 bodies inside a house in a residential neighborhood. While searching at another house they found 11 more bodies. The third and final house contained one body. Four other bodies were confirmed separately by the state government of Veracruz. A day later, Reynaldo Escobar Pérez, the State Justice Attorney General, stepped down and resigned due to the drug-violence. And a day after his resignation, 10 more bodies were found throughout the city of Veracruz. The CJNG was also responsible for 67 killings in Veracruz on 7 October 2011.
By 9 October 2011, in only eighteen days, the state of Veracruz reported 100 killings.
Operation Safe Veracruz In response to the multiple executions between the drug cartels, the federal government launched a military-led operation in the state of Veracruz, known in Spanish as Operativo Veracruz Seguro. In October 2011, the state of Veracruz was a disputed territory between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel. Francisco Blake Mora, Secretary of the Interior at the time, said that the operation was implemented to serve the following goals: Deploy the Armed Forces and the Federal Police throughout the Veracruz to "recover the areas controlled by the cartels." Establish intelligence agencies to not only capture the cartel members, but to also dismantle their financial and operative networks; Evaluate and inspect the police forces in Veracruz for any possible correlation with the cartels, "in order to count with loyal" police officers; Increase the federal and state funding to improve security measures; Ensure that the government is the only entity that carries out law and order.
Continued attacks and 2012 Veracruz massacres
Despite the strong military presence, the authorities discovered seven bodies inside a Ford Lobo on 8 October 2011 in Veracruz. On 22 December 2011, three public buses were attacked by drug cartel members on Federal Highway 105 in Veracruz, leaving 16 dead. Three U.S. citizens were among those dead. Soon after the shootouts, which happened in the early morning, the authorities carried out an operation to find those responsible, killing five gunmen. The U.S. Consulate in Matamoros asked Americans to avoid traveling on highways between cities in the late hours of the night.
In Tampico Alto, Veracruz, on 23 December 2011 the Mexican authorities found 10 dead bodies after an anonymous call from a citizen. The corpses were dumped on a dirt road, and all of them were handcuffed and presented signs of torture. Nine out of the ten bodies were decapitated. Earlier in February 2011, Saturnino Valdés Llanos, the mayor of the municipality of Tampico Alto, was kidnapped in February 2011; his body was left in a garbage dump with 10 more bodies a week later. On 25 December 2011 near Tampico, Tamaulipas, a city on the border with Veracruz, 13 bodies were found inside an 18-wheeler truck. According to officials, the truck had license plates from Veracruz. Authorities indicated that this massacre was related to the other mass murders that had occurred in Veracruz. On 9 February 2012, the Mexican authorities exhumed 15 bodies from clandestine mass graves in Acayucan, Veracruz. According to government sources, by March 2012, the homicide rate in Veracruz and its surrounding territories had decreased. President Felipe Calderón attributed the low homicide rates to the Operation Veracruz, the military-led open implemented in October 2011.