On Oct. 16, 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, standing next to a large "Wanted" poster of El Mencho, announced a $10 million reward for his capture and unveiled detailed indictments against him and CJNG. He had to pay $50,000. We're guests in their country.. John Walker in uniform (left), and Walker in his undercover look (right). Then in September 2020, a video believed to have been filmed in the central state of Zacatecas showed CJNG members directly threatening Ismael Zambada Garca, alias "El Mayo," leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Officials in Attorney General William Barr's office declined to comment on The Courier Journal's findings. Classic Of The Genre. CJNG wasn't the only cartel in the Bluegrass State in 2017, but authorities say it was the main supplier of fentanyl when Louisville's Adam Cooley, who sought heroin, snorted 20 times alethal dose. She must report to a federal probation officer for five years. It has an army of 5,000 members . But soon, he was asked to deliver drugs. In Mexico, a DEA investigator said he was stunned when he learned CJNG cells were popping up in communities as small as Axton. Investigators believe Bustos fled to Mexico. Using others to deposit drug profitsin cartel-controlled bankaccounts. VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. //]]>. Hollie McKay has a been a Fox News Digital staff reporter since 2007. Narcocorrido band Grupo Arriesgado forced out of Tijuana for singing about CJNG. "This happened to me for being a thief, and because I didn't respect hard-working people and continued to rob them," the chilling note strapped to their bodies read. However, authorities did find bullet casings. It is a forsaken endeavor to deter CJNG hitmen from infiltrating their neighborhoods. The CJNG split from the Sinaloa Cartel after the killing of Ignacio Coronel, a capo whose death caused a power vacuum (via Insight Crime).Based in the western state of Jalisco, CJNG was founded by Nemesio Oseguera Ramos, whose ongoing leadership has placed him on Mexican and American most wanted . You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! The unending stream of narcotics has contributed to this countrys unprecedented addiction crisis, devastating families and killing more than 300,000 people since 2013. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Macias found success following the cartel's three-pronged business model: Macias recruited Brizeida Janett Sosa, the mother of his youngest child, to help organize themoney laundering scheme, court records would later show. In2015, ElMenchoflexed that power to strike back at law enforcement who tried to stop him. "If he was, I didnt charge him enough.". Furthermore, it's part of their propaganda drive to recruit the many youths seeking that "narco"-glamorized life, flashed and filtered by images of beautiful women, mounds of money and a depository of deadly arms. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"AT9cPsLXmTcu5DvoOKyYtBnoaFpnyDzcOkF8t9PIjh4-1800-0"}; "Drug cartels generally do not control territory in the same way that governments or even gangs do, but traditionally exert influence over certain activities in certain areas or routes," Ellis explained. Investigators uncovered three main pieces of the puzzle that revealed a snapshot of how this drug ring thrived. Hearing the word "cartel" uttered in open court instantly rattled Eduardo. Mexican Cartel Members Sending Message To Rivals. 1nemesis, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the majority supply of everything from methamphetamine and heroin to the devastating synthetic opioid fentanyl into its northern border and beyond. Further details Roberto Alderete revealed about CJNG remain hidden in sealed documents. Theyve got their money," Williams said. CJNG, which routinely faces off with its No. The unparalleled speed of CJNGs growth coasttocoast in less than a decade has made the cartel a clear, present and growing danger, says Uttam Dhillon, DEA's acting administrator. Another Puzzle From The Mexican Cartel. But DEA agents across the border are sharing intelligence and working with their Mexican counterparts to devise ways to dismantle CJNG and arrest its leaders. Reporters Jonathan Bullington, Kala Kachmar, Chris Kenning andKarol Suarez contributed to this story. The cartel alsorecruitsspies in theMexicangovernment and policeto keep its leaders out of jail and avoid drug busts. Watch a man being brutally beheaded by rival Cartel members in Mexico! Twomasterminds now in prisonorchestrated the scheme from Guadalajara:Carlos Parra Pedroza,aliasWalt Disney, who owned a jewelry store; and Diego Pineda Sanchez, an accountant. Guanajuato. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. "If one wants to gain power, control and territory, it's a must that they conquer non-alliance cartels and gain the assistance of police and government entities to assist them in their global success.". As well as its feud with El Menchos CJNG, El Marros group has made threats against new Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador, intelligence website InSight Crime reports. We have all had a drug consumption problem," said the official, who asked not to be identified for his protection. By the time of the hearing, the veteran was 560 days sober. "If that takes them killing other cartels or killing innocent people, they will do it.". It also forbids any U.S. bank to approve loans or credit card transactions for those CJNG-backed enterprises. "If an agent saw him, we couldnt say, 'Hey, were gonna grab El Mencho right now, take him and put him into custody.' CJNG has skirted Mexican and U.S. inspections at legal border crossings by hiding drugs in semitrailers hauling tomatoes, avocados and other produce, dumping at least 5 tons of cocaine and 5 tons of meth into this country every month, according to DEA estimates. . After agents toppled the Oregon drug network in 2018 and arrested 23 suspects, there were murders in Mexico that U.S. investigators suspect were meant to scare and silence potential witnesses in the Portland case. His cousin, Roberto Carlos Farfan Alvarez, known as "Raton" or "Mouse," pleaded guilty but never talked to police. Farfan pleaded guilty in November 2021 to trafficking drugs and illegally reentering the U.S. and was the last of 23 defendants in the case to admit guilt. In mid-October, 13 Mexican police officers were killed in an ambush in El Mencho's home state of Michoacn in western Mexico. All rights reserved. The CJNG has also been accused of directly extorting businesses in the capital. They are surrounded by 13 masked men, apparently Los Zetas hitmen, who point their rifles at them. The violence of 2015 was a wake-upcall,saidTerryCole, a former New York City police officer who oversees DEA agents in Guadalajaraas the assistant regional director forNorth and Central America. The victims' wrists were tied using ligatures to prevent them all from bleeding to death. 1 nemesis, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the majority supply of everything from methamphetamine and heroin to the devastating synthetic opioid. "El Mencho, a former police officer, knows that violence and fear are what keepthese cartels in power within Mexico. He ran a drug network that trafficked kilos of meth with help from his then-wife, Socorro Elena Gutierrez, from their Washington County home. CJNG took credit on social media for the massacre. CJNG even established a cell in south-central Virginia, buying or renting a cluster of modest homes in Axton an unincorporated community of roughly 6,500. Moreover, the spread of crime by gangs 'affiliated' with the cartels increases the number of Mexicans who are victimized by crime indirectly related to cartels," he said. For an overview of the Pjaros Sierra versus Crtel Jalisco Nueva Generacin (CJNG) conflict, please see this previous Borderland Beat story. Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, underscored that as the criminal environment has become more fragmented with many groups and affiliated gangs, the amount of killing and its unpredictability has become more generalized. killing on turf wars between the Jalisco cartel and its rivals as it expands into new territory. His chances of surviving the amped up gunmen who are intent on killing him are slim at best. But federal agents say CJNG was Kentuckys main supplier of fentanyl at the time of his death. It hauled inmore than 3 kilos of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid so potent that an amount as small as Abraham Lincoln's cheek on a pennycan be fatal. First, Mexican cartel suppliers established a pipeline to the Portland area. A few instances of the harm: A co-defendant killed himself to avoid prison, and a 9-year-old girl tested positive for meth after her parents helped repackage drugs for resale. While officials can't say how much of the U.S. drug trade comes from CJNG, they predict the powerful organization is poised to supplant the more well-known and established Sinaloa Cartel as the world's most powerful drug trafficking organization. Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password. ", Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. The Michoacan Attorney Generals Office revealed that the bodies were removed and the scene was largely cleaned by the perpetrators. Ciro Macias Martinez was praised by his supervisor and fellow farmhands alike for his punctuality, work ethicand soothing manner with horses at the breeding and training farm in the heart of Kentucky. "Your weapons laws (in the U.S.) are too weak," with American guns often ending up in the hands of cartel members in Mexico, he said. A video allegedly showing El Cholo surrounded by CJNG captors was uploaded ahead of the mutilated body's discovery Credit: YouTube. Chicago prosecutors allegein court filingsthat LuisAlderetewas ahigh-level cartel operativewhoshopped for a hitman on Facebook to take care of a gang member in Cairo, Illinois, to silence him. The military veteran served in Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and didn't have a criminal history, but he and his wife suffered from addiction. CJNG is "among us. Dozens of couriers throughout the U.S. would then collect the drug profits and use the dirty moneyto buy scrap and fine gold. More unchecked opportunities. In the recordings, it can be seen how little by little assassins from the Sinaloa Cartel are killing the woman's life and dismembering her, first it is observed how they remove her arms, later they cut her neck and thus continue with the other extremities. Farfan's drug ring also sent drugs to Gresham, east of Portland, Hood River, a port on the Columbia River an hour northeast of Portland, and north into Tacoma, Washington. Los Marros behead man, woman from CJNG cartel, Two men dismembered, ditched on road along with pizzas and cartel narcomantas, CJNG cartel members BBQ dismembered opps in Mexico, Sicarios who brutally stabbed two men to death dismembered in Mexico, Cartel members skin two men alive and wear their faces on their head. This case had some odd twists, including the involvement by a retired U.S. Marine and his wife, an agonizing test of family loyalties and a gruesome threat from Mexico. Pictures taken of the victims show them blindfolded, with their arms and legs bound. Americans who may not know of CJNG today should take note, Dodds said. Jason Hoover, who oversaw Walker and teamed to raid area drug houses in the case. Four men alleged to be leaders in a Mexican cartel enforcement cell have been indicted in San Diego on drug-trafficking charges and are accused of orchestrating a wave of . They also contacted more than two dozen accused cartel members or CJNG associates in prison and traveled to Mexico City, Guadalajara and 15 U.S. cities to see firsthand the far-reaching repercussions of El Menchos cartel. They found drugs and drug couriers, including a former nurse, linked back to Hillsboro in neighboring Washington County. Entire familieswho resisthave been slaughtered, Donahue said. "But if you have drugs in your community, and I don't think there is any community that can say they don't have any, it is coming from the drug cartels. Legal Statement. He had at least five aliases and kept slipping back into the U.S. There's a serious danger. He agreed to talk to agents only about certain drug crimes, including detailing his actions and his uncle's actions inside the U.S., after a judge released him from jail on bond and after his elder family members gave him their blessing. "If its coming from a cartel, they could have sold a pound to Asians, black guys, outlaw motorcycle gangs, white trash," said Lt. Jeremy Williams, of the Ashe County Sheriff's Office inNorth Carolina. Legal Statement. Robertois awaiting sentencing in Paducah in August for trafficking meth while armed with a gun. "I still expected that they would be in markets in the Southwest, a little bit into some of the other major corridors, such as Atlanta and Chicago, Evans said. Why is The Courier Journal reporting on a deadly Mexican drug cartel? Armas used the couple's home as a drug stash house, paying them with enough meth for their daily fix. They stormed a hideout west of Guadalajara, but the cartel leader climbed into a vehicle and was rushed to safety. Known as "El Mencho," he's remained in hiding for years and is on the DEA's Most Wanted list. She has extensively reported from war zones including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma, and Latin America investigates global conflicts, war crimes and terrorism around the world. "What are they doing way out in the middle of nowhere?" Investigators trailed behind Eduardo to the Lloyd Center shopping mall in Portland on July 10, 2018. Instead, The Courier Journals investigation documented cells where CJNG members moved in, settling into a luxury condo near downtown Nashvilles honky-tonk district; an upscale Hollywood high-rise apartment near Sunset Boulevard; and sidewalk-lined suburbs in Cairo, Illinois; Johnson City, Tennessee; and Kansas City, Missouri. With a fast-swelling arsenal of advanced weapons from stolen cars converted into armored vehicles to drones and high-powered machine guns it's a force to be reckoned. Investigators listened in on several calls between Armas and his neighbors using code to coordinate drug deals. More:Will El Chapo son's arrest slow export of drugs to US? Walker realized he wasn't the only one watching this drug ring. "It's important for all Americans to understand the threat to their community and what might impact their everyday lives," Evans said. They control witnesses in the U.S. by threatening to kidnap, torture and kill loved ones within their reach in Mexico, hamstringing agents trying to target drug kingpins and their powerful inner circle. Cannibalism in Mexico! Maciasand Sosa were convicted of meth trafficking and money laundering and are serving 31 and 15 years, respectively, in federal prison. He never mentioned suppliers in Mexico linked to a cartel, or what he called the Mexican mafia. More:This small-town Oregon bricklayer had a side hustle: Gun supplier for Mexican drug cartel. 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