The U.S. government announced a concerted effort to target Mexico’s most dangerous terrorist organization, Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). The effort by both the U.S. Department of Justice and the State Department includes a new series of indictments targeting the shifting CJNG leadership structure and offers up to $100 million in rewards for information leading to the arrest of those leaders.
The move took place this week, when both the U.S. DOJ and the State Department made a series of announcements targeting CJNG, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration in 2025.
The new and superseding indictments and rewards focus on their new leadership, which changed earlier this year, following the death of the cartel’s top leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. Since then, the criminal organization is led by his stepson Juan Carlos “Pelon” Valencia and his two top commanders Audias “Jardinero” Flores Silva and Hugo Gonzalo “Sapo” Mendoza Gaytan. The indictments also focus on some of the cartel’s new and upcoming leaders.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to social media to announce the move, adding that they had also revoked the visas of 26 individuals associated with the cartel and imposed visa sanctions on 65 others.
The new push increases the pressure on Mexico’s government, which has shown a reluctance of sorts in openly fighting drug cartels due largely to the political fallout over public allegations tying part of the country’s ruling party, MORENA, to various drug cartels. One of the most notable examples is the criminal indictment against Sinaloa’s Governor Ruben Rocha Moya and 9 of his closest allies who have been accused of working for the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for bribes and political power.
As Breitbart Texas reported, rather than move to help the United States with arrests and extraditions, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has openly defended Rocha Moya and claimed that the indictment is a push by the U.S. far right to damage the MORENA party, to which both she and Rocha Moya belong.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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