"You ask almost any young boy in Jalisco what they want to be when they grow up," one former intel officer, now based in Mexico City, lamented. He had a 1999 aggravated felony drug conviction in Multnomah County and was deported in 2001. Last year, a judge sentenced Eduardo to 30 months behind bars, followed by five years supervised release. Somewhere deep in Mexico's remote wilderness, the worlds most dangerous and wanted drug lord is hiding. But someCJNGbossesdidnt follow those rules. But two years later, agents discovered he had slipped back into the U.S., returned to Portland and resumed trafficking cocaine and meth and had added heroin to his offerings. Police grabbed him, finding two kilos of fentanyl stuffed in a backpack. Pullup the seat. How a Mexican cartel turned a rural area into a hidden cocaine hub, One mistake trapped a desperate dad in a Mexican drug cartel's web. Cartels target tourist destinations along Oregon coast for illegal drug distribution. Federal police officer Ivan Morales, his partner andsoldierswith theMexican national defense climbed aboard helicopters andheaded toward a CJNG compound in theJaliscomountains. Explore the investigation wall showing the connections of El Mencho and CJNG cartel. 13 Mexican police officers were killed in an ambush, sold heroin to two undercover police officers, fired Russian-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Investigators uncovered a hidden hub of stash houses, state trooper working with a DEA task force nearly brought down El Mencho, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 7. Rapid gunfire could be heard in videos that appeared to have been recorded at the scene of the mass murder. 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. "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. including the drug-related killings of two Mexican brothers in 2014, one of whom was found . "I know Im not that person," he said, refusing to elaborate. Market data provided by Factset. "When Eduardo got involved in this he was a very young man, and it was because of a family connection an uncle who had been involved in Mexico organized crime for decades," his attorney, Matthew A. Schindler, told The Courier Journal, referring to Victor Farfan. His attorney, Noel Grefenson, declined comment for this story. You can follow him onTwitterand onFacebook. But he ended up working for his Uncle Victor. In June, operatives attempted to assassinate Mexico City's police chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch hammering his body with at least three bullets and slaying two of his bodyguards. The group has also upped the ante for sea and air authority too fighting the likes of Sinaloa and the vestiges of Los Zetas and Los Pelones to take heed over the vital port of Chetumal and the Yucatan Peninsula, according to ananalysisby InSight Crime. The answer, The Courier Journal found, kept pointing to CJNG. SEASIDE, Ore. This tranquil coastal town is known for its wide beaches and grand promenade and for becoming a target for drug traffickers peddling meth supplied by a Mexican super cartel. During Eduardo's detention hearing, prosecutors told the judge the Farfan drug ring was supplied by a Mexican cartel. CJNG torture video - The man was poured alcohol on his head and set on fire The man was poured alcohol on his head and set on fire The gunmen used isopropyl alcohol to set fire to the man's face and mocked his nickname. Additional Video Update: There is an additional video of a fight against state police that took place in the town of Tizapn El Alto. Dozens of couriers throughout the U.S. would then collect the drug profits and use the dirty moneyto buy scrap and fine gold. Those who tried to run were tortured, killed and sometimescannibalizedby fellow recruits in what U.S. federal agents describe as a disturbing riteof passage. "If an agent saw him, we couldnt say, 'Hey, were gonna grab El Mencho right now, take him and put him into custody.' She got her older sister, a struggling single mom, involved to make quick money. They are surrounded by 13 masked men, apparently Los Zetas hitmen, who point their rifles at them. Reporters Jonathan Bullington, Kala Kachmar, Chris Kenning andKarol Suarez contributed to this story. 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 . On 2/10 Narcocorrido band Grupo Arriesgado was forced to cancel a concert in Tijuana after a report of shots were fired during an event vice.com. It is known for its aggressive use of violence and its public relations campaigns. Police found seven guns in the couple's bedroom. He had to pay $50,000. Since the arrest and extradition to the U.S. of Sinaloa frontman Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn in 2016, analysts say that the CJNG has steadily encroached on new terrain including Tijuana bringing with it a recipe for bloodletting and groups waginga war of dominance. As they hovered over a cartel convoy, CJNG members fired Russian-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers, shooting down Morales helicopterinto a cluster of trees. The cartel has its hands in trafficking multiple deadly substances. Tipped off that a police caravan was on its way to grab El Mencho, CJNGhitmen hidalong the route in April 2015 and ambushed fourpolice vehicles. If someone you love dies from an overdose tonight, he may very well be to blame. It also operated a tequila label,casinos,two shopping centers,a medical clinic,real estate companies and a Pacific Ocean resort frequented by Americans, according to U.S. Treasury Department records. During a brief telephonecallfrom prison in August 2019,Palomerasaid heis a family manwhonever harmed anyone. MEMBERS ONLY. Passed over for promotion, ElMenchoteamed withhis in-laws who ran an affiliatedcartel and forged his own criminal organizationin early 2011 CJNG. In America,ElMenchoexpectscartel members and associates to avoid violence, hidewealth anddisguise their CJNG affiliations, agents say. "If he was, I didnt charge him enough.". Soldiers seized a couple of modified and armored trucks at a warehouse in the municipality of Camargo during a patrol on Saturday, local media reported. This case is another example of how CJNG is increasingly vying for turf in Michoacn, the birthplace of its leader, Rubn Oseguera Cervantes. The cartel's expansion into smaller, unexpected communities began to mushroom about five years ago as U.S. intelligence analysts tracked its movements far beyond border towns and major hubs. ", "He said: 'I'll do the time. He reached 'kingpin' status by selling Mexican cartel-supplied drugs. Mexican cartel murders bride at altar during her own wedding, kidnaps groom, Canada's defence minister pledges 200 armoured personnel carriers for Ukraine during . In Illinois,the cartel teamed with Vice Lordsgang members to grow a drug network that stretched from Southern California through the Midwest and into Nashville and Paducah, Kentuckyknown for its riverwalk murals and the National QuiltMuseum. The cartel alsorecruitsspies in theMexicangovernment and policeto keep its leaders out of jail and avoid drug busts. Next steps crucial, experts say, US drug czar wants India to stem flow of chemicals used by Mexican cartels for fentanyl, Ignoring cartel danger, Mexican families scour wilderness for missing loved ones' remains, This small-town Oregon bricklayer had a side hustle: Gun supplier for Mexican drug cartel, Mexico-US investigation links cartel downing of military helicopter to Oregon gun supplier, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. "Theyre killing the next generation, and one of them was my son," Brenda Cooley said. 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. "Theyre a business," Hammer said of cartels. A federal grand jury had indicted him and more than 20 others on money laundering and drug trafficking charges. 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 . Balaclava-clad members of the CJNG released a video claiming responsibility for the killings it later emerged that the victims had no connection to organised crime whatsoever. Even if U.S. and Mexican investigators can track El Mencho's location, capturing him won't be easy. But in America, few know who he is or why his rise to power matters. GRAPHIC VIDEO: CJNG cartel members behead two men from rival cartel July 12, 2022 UNCENSORED VIDEO BELOW / New horrifying video shows three CJNG cartel members beheading two men from a rival cartel in Mexico. He co-founded Breitbart Texas Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darbyand senior Breitbart management. The teenager sneaked into the U.S. and triedto build a customer base as a street-level dealer. And, according to reports by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, CJNG and its rival, the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, are the top two suppliers fueling the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history. This time, as Farfan oversaw his drug business, FBI agents mounted an investigation against him. Farfan agreed to forfeit $100,000, and the judge ordered him to remain on supervised release for five years after he serves his time in prison. ", Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. A video allegedly showing El Cholo surrounded by CJNG captors was uploaded ahead of the mutilated body's discovery Credit: YouTube. ", Soldiers stand guard in front of a modified and armored truck as it is displayed to the media at a military base in Reynosa, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas June 5, 2011. Robertois awaiting sentencing in Paducah in August for trafficking meth while armed with a gun. Mexican marines almost captured El Mencho in October 2018. Snchez was once a top lieutenant in the CJNG, but split to form his own cartel called La Nueva Plaza in 2017. "Once 'safe' areas such as Mexico City and Puebla State and the tourist zones of the Yucatan Peninsula are now contested. The DEA's Donahue said many were taken toremote paramilitary camps where they were trained asassassins. . "He spoke with Mexican-based members of the conspiracy, met interstate couriers and directed subordinates," prosecutors noted in a government motion to keep Farfan locked up pending trial. She must report to a federal probation officer for five years. "The violence in Mexico and elsewhere is something that doesn't stop at the border. Two years earlier, they stumbled onto a drug business at the same auto repair shop allegedly run by suspect Jose Cruz Gutierrez Bustos. His boss, Eddie Kane, Calumet's general manager, declined repeated requests for comment. The billion-dollar criminal organization has a large and disciplined army, control of extensive drug routes throughout the U.S., sophisticated money-laundering techniques and an elaborate digital terror campaign, federal drug agents say. As a young adult, he and his older brother, Abraham Oseguera Cervantes,sold heroin to two undercover police officers at a San Francisco bar in 1992 and were sent to federal prison on drug trafficking charges. There's a serious danger. The investigation documented how in each new community, CJNG uses local traffickers who can blend in to sell their drugs, with no regard for their race or ethnicity. The Portland-based drug network, which stretched into affluent area suburbs, westbound to Oregon's quaint coastal cities and north into southwestern Washington, is emblematic of a key Mexican cartel strategy to establish drug pipelines far beyond the border and into small, unsuspecting towns. 2023www.courier-journal.com. We see them operating illegal marijuana farms in southern Oregon.". "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. A high-ranking state official in Jaliscosaid Americans are too quick to blame Mexico for the U.S. drug crisis. He received credit for time in jail awaiting trial and has since been released and deported. But betrayal awaited, Will El Chapo son's arrest slow export of drugs to US? 1 killer. Mexico's CJNG is currently making a series of territorial incursions around the country to take control of key fuel theft, drug trafficking, and human smuggling regions. Many were scared silent and to this day no Mexican suppliers have faced justice for these crimes. ", The mother of his two youngest children wrote a letter saying: "He is one of the greatest fathers that there is. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @holliesmckay. Mexico's cartel crackdown struggling despite victory? And for those who make the gut-wrenching decision to stay, life has been reduced to the desperate, defensive gambit ofdigging trenchesacross highways in western Michoacn. The information leaks make catching El Mencho extremely difficult, he said. Both serve as popular entry ports for the precursor chemicals in synthetic drugs, mostly brought in fromChina. CHINESE 'CARTELS' QUIETLY OPERATING IN MEXICO, AIDING US DRUG CRISIS. Further details Roberto Alderete revealed about CJNG remain hidden in sealed documents. Investigators believe Bustos fled to Mexico. John Walker in uniform (left), and Walker in his undercover look (right). Los Cabos allegedly engaged in this violence in support of CJNG, one of the most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world. 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. A nine-month Courier Journal investigation reveals how CJNG's reach hasspread across the U.S. in the past five years, overwhelming cities and small towns with massive amounts of drugs. U.S. officials have . We have all had a drug consumption problem," said the official, who asked not to be identified for his protection. 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