DEA announce efforts against Cartel JNG: Part I

DEA wants to bring Nemiso Cervantes aka El Mencho to justice. /Photo: Courtesy DEADEA wants to bring Nemiso Cervantes aka El Mencho to justice. /Photo: Courtesy DEA

By Oscar Zepeda
info@purofutbolonline.com

WASHINGTON – The United States of America, through its Departments of Justice, Treasury, and State announced today a series of measures to target and dismantle the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) – one of the largest, most dangerous drug cartels currently operating in Mexico. These measures include the unsealing of 15 indictments, the State Department’s approval of large rewards, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designations, and the establishment of a citizen tip-line.
CJNG is one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico and the Department of Justice considers it to be one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world, responsible for trafficking many tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl-laced heroin into the United States, as well as for violence and significant loss of life in Mexico.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions of the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI Deputy Director David L. Bowdich, Director Andrea Gacki of OFAC, Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Kirsten D. Madison of the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Executive Associate Director Derek Benner and Chief Don Fort of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Background
Founded in 2011, CJNG has grown in size and strength rapidly since its inception. Today, the DEA estimates the CJNG exerts influence in 23 of 31 (75 percent) of Mexican states, including key drug production and transportation corridors. CJNG is a powerful drug cartel in Mexico as a result of the organization’s disciplined command and control, sophisticated money laundering techniques, efficient drug transportation routes, and extreme violence. The cartel has also expanded globally, with significant presence and illicit business not only throughout the United States and Mexico, but also Europe, Asia, and Australia.
“We will continue to hammer transnational criminal organizations like the Cartel de San Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG,” said Attorney General Sessions. “The DEA has said for three years in a row that Mexican drug cartels are the single gravest drug threat that this country faces. President Trump recognizes this, and the day I was sworn in as Attorney General, he ordered me to dismantle transnational criminal organizations, including the cartels. We have been faithful to that order. Today, I am announcing 15 indictments returned against the leaders of CJNG. These indictments are our next steps—but not our last. We will continue following President Trump’s order.”
“DEA has a strong partnership with the Government of Mexico that is demonstrated in the relentless pursuit of the violent leadership of the CJNG cartel,” said Acting Administrator Dhillon. “We will continue to work closely with our international partners to bring Nemiso Cervantes aka El Mencho to justice and dismantle drug cartels like CJNG.”