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The United States has announced new sanctions targeting five high-ranking leaders of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, CJNG is one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful drug cartels. It emerged around 2010 as a splinter group from the Milenio Cartel, following internal disputes after the capture of its former leader. The cartel is led by Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” a former police officer turned drug trafficker who has grown CJNG into a franchise-like criminal empire with global reach. Oseguera’s role in the cartel has fueled conspiracy theories, with some Mexican journalists and former officials alleging (without confirmed evidence) that elements within Mexican law enforcement or foreign intelligence may have, at times, shielded him due to the strategic usefulness of his violence against rival cartels like Los Zetas.
What’s going on now: In an announcement, the Treasury confirmed that it had imposed new sanctions on five high-ranking members of the CJNG, citing their central roles in trafficking fentanyl into the United States and committing acts of extreme violence, including targeted killings.
The individuals sanctioned include Ruben Oseguera Cervantes; Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez, his son-in-law who oversees chemical imports at the Port of Manzanillo; Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, linked to a CJNG training camp where recruits were allegedly executed; Audias Flores Silva, a regional commander responsible for clandestine drug labs; and Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, a senior lieutenant implicated in the murder of Mexican influencer Valeria Marquez.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “CJNG’s reign of terror across Mexico and its trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has destroyed countless innocent lives. The United States remains strongly committed to leveraging all available tools to degrade the capacity of CJNG and other cartels to flood our streets with dangerous drugs and perpetrate heinous acts of violence against civilians.”
