Colombian authorities delivered a major blow to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel , one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico.
On August 24, the Colombian government announced security forces seized over one ton of cocaine , worth USD 18.6 million, when criminal transported it in a semi-submersible ship when it was en route to Mexico
Colombia’s anti-drug force and the army were involved in the operation where they intercepted the ship and arrested three suspects.
This incident confirms that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the fastest-growing criminal organizations in Mexico, has a strong presence in Colombia, the world’s main cocaine producer.
Colombian authorities explained, “the semi-submersible is worth around USD 1.2 million, it can carry up to 3 tons, and has a satellite navigation system that, according to investigations, would allow the suspected to arrive in Costa Careyes, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, during the first week of September.”
Authorities added that the shipment belonged to the Colombian criminal group Grupo Armado Organizado Residual (GAOR) E-30 and that their goal was to deliver the cocaine to the CJNG.
Criminal organization E-30 is led by a criminal who is known as “Mahecha,” who is allegedly responsible for a series of crimes, mass killings, and displacements.
The Colombian government said the E-30 also has links to another violent Mexican cartel: the Gulf Cartel .
Authorities confirmed the three suspects, who are Ecuadorian citizens, arrested by Colombian authorities are under police custody.
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Colombian authorities detected the presence of the bloody Mexican cartel years ago. After criminals created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, it arrived in Colombia and allied with the Ejército de Liberación Nacional ( ELN ), a guerrilla accused of producing drugs, drug trafficking, and money laundering.
Colombian authorities told EL UNIVERSAL in August 2018 that members of the ELN asked the CJNG to pay USD 70 per kilogram to allow cocaine shipments to leave Colombia en route to Manzanillo, Colima.
Security forces in Colombia confirmed that Mexican cartels have arrived in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Central America to operate the production, transportation, distribution, and commercialization of cocaine.
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In 2017, Colombia alerted that Mexican cartel members, mainly from the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG, were arriving in non-touristic areas in Colombia to purchase cocaine.
Authorities discovered their presence in Putumayo and Nariño, near the border with Ecuador, as well as in Norte de Santander, near Venezuela.
EL UNIVERSAL obtained a copy of a memorandum the Colombian government sent to Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, where it alerts about the increasing presence of Mexican drug traffickers in Colombian, who pretend to be tourists, businessmen, workers, or students.
The CJNG was originally known as the Zeta Killers and first appeared in 2011, with the display of the bodies of 35 alleged members of Los Zetas. Although the criminal organization is based in Jalisco, it also operates in Colima, Michoacán, the state of Mexico, Guerrero, and Guanajuato.
The Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación allegedly served as an armed group for the Sinaloa Cartel until 2013.
In 2015, the Mexican government declared CJNG one of the most dangerous cartels in the country. In October 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury described the group as one of the world’s “most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations.”
According to some analysts, the CJNG has operations throughout the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
Moreover, the brutal Mexican cartel has been linked to several mass graves in southwestern Mexico and shot down an army helicopter in 2015.
The DEA, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, labeled Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” as the most wanted man, even before cartel leaders with a long history such as Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero.
In the U.S., the DEA placed billboards all over Los Angeles, California, offering a USD 10 million reward in exchange for information that leads to the arrest of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.
In 2018, the drug trafficker was named the third most wanted criminal by the DEA.
In recent months, the drug lord’s inner circle was severely weakened after his son was extradited to the U.S. and the arrest of Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, “La Negra.” According to authorities, they were the criminal’s main financial operators.
According to the DEA, the drug trafficker has created a clandestine safety zone in the mountainous areas in Jalisco, Michoacán, and Colima. The criminal does not set foot in major cities or restaurants and lives in the mountains. This strategy is common among cartel leaders.
Although “El Mencho” joined crime in the 90s, he became an infamous cartel leader in the last 5 years and it’s now the most wanted man by the DEA
In 1994, the infamous cartel leader was sentenced to 3 years in prison for heroin trafficking in the U.S. He was later deported to Mexico, worked as a police officer in Jalisco, and then joined the now-defunct Milenio Cártel. When the cartel leader, Ignacio Coronel “El Rey del Cristal,” was murdered in 2010, the CJNG was created.
During the Peña Nieto administration, authorities spent over MXN 5 million a day to arrest “El Mencho.”
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