"They are, however, big on extortion and can turn to violence if victims refuse to cooperate," she asserted. He said very little while chatting on cell phones, and he changed phones a lot. A veteran Jalisco police officer, whoasked not to be identified for his safety, said CJNG has officials on its payroll at thelocal, state and federal levels. Enemies: CJNG, Juarez Cartel, Los Zetas. Echeagaray pointed out that CJNG, although very violent, does not target civilians systematically. "Our community is paying a steep price," said Carlos Guevara, a senior policy adviser for UnidosUS, Americas largest Latino civil rights organization. 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. The Michoacan Attorney Generals Office revealed that the bodies were removed and the scene was largely cleaned by the perpetrators. FBI agents led a raid at the couple's home on Oct. 24, 2018, arresting the 51-year-old military veteran and his 53-year-old wife. We have all had a drug consumption problem," said the official, who asked not to be identified for his protection. In eightmonths, Sosas crew laundered about $1million for CJNG,stacking drugs and cash behind a wall of their trailer. He co-founded Breitbart Texas Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. 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. 2023www.courier-journal.com. Hearing more details, the investigator, who asked not to be identified to protect his work, acknowledged to The Courier Journal: "Its a great strategy.". Dozens of couriers throughout the U.S. would then collect the drug profits and use the dirty moneyto buy scrap and fine gold. CJNG's Kentucky strategy has been repeated in town after town across America, in places better known for cheese, cows and corn. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel). He had a 1999 aggravated felony drug conviction in Multnomah County and was deported in 2001. The case took place in Marcos Castellanos, Michoacan, where gunmen stormed a funeral service and forced mourners to line up against a wall before opening fire. A larger probe was underway by Washington County Sheriff's WIN Team, the Westside Interagency Narcotics task force that includes agents with the FBI, Hillsboro and Beaverton police and the Oregon National Guard County-Drug investigators. John Walker in uniform (left), and Walker in his undercover look (right). "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. 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. Businesses in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Los Angeles would buy the goldand then send the payments through wire transfers to Mexico including to Parra Pedroza's precious metals business. Jalisco New Generation, often referred to as CJNG, is another Mexican cartel that emerged in 2010. 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. Another Puzzle From The Mexican Cartel. "A very big, increasing problem. Regardless, prosecutors had strong evidence including transcripts from six months of wire taps in 2018 as Farfan chatted about drug shipments. 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. CJNG remains the domineering force in its namesake state of Jalisco where the former governor was gunned down on Friday, in what many believe to have been the work of the cartel and its trail of terror is steadily proliferating. ", 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. In May, a judge sentenced Armas to serve seven years and six months in prison, followed by five years of supervision. He was thought to be one of the leaders of Carteles Unidos. ", The mother of his two youngest children wrote a letter saying: "He is one of the greatest fathers that there is. "And that his uncle had manipulated him and used him and his cousin. "Theyre killing the next generation, and one of them was my son," Brenda Cooley said. But betrayal awaited, Will El Chapo son's arrest slow export of drugs to US? 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. CJNG also has enlisted white-collar expertise. Beginning in 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department designated El Mencho a "kingpin," along with his brother-in-law, Abigail Gonzlez Valencia, leader of the Los Cuinis cartel. Ciro Macias Martinez led a double life, working as a horse groomer by day and overseeing the flow of $30 million worth of drugs into Kentuckyby night before being imprisoned in 2018 for meth trafficking and money laundering, federal records show. His chances of surviving the amped up gunmen who are intent on killing him are slim at best. He received credit for time in jail awaiting trial and has since been released and deported. Moreover, the U.S. lacks the authority to make arrests in foreign countries, said Evans, a senior DEA official. The cartel has run brothels in Mexico, often using teens and women forced into CJNG's web. So instead of blaming, we should look for solutions.. 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. He had at least five aliases and kept slipping back into the U.S. "As well as those who suffer from a lack of economic opportunity because businesses cannot thrive, and a lack of quality of life because public services, in some ways, do not function well.". To help Maciassmuggle drugs into the U.S., cartel leaders used a Toyota Camry with a secret compartment on the armrest that opened through a sequence of steps: Turnon the heater. 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. In an international operation that stretches back to 2011 dubbed "King's Gold," Homeland Security investigatorsin Chicago uncovered a money laundering organization that funneled more than $101 million to CJNG and another cartel. Classic Of The Genre. Despite the capture of certain top leaders, it is now Mexico's foremost criminal threat . It is a forsaken endeavor to deter CJNG hitmen from infiltrating their neighborhoods. In Seaside, known for commercial fishing and timber, traffickers easily established a strong customer base. This time, as Farfan oversaw his drug business, FBI agents mounted an investigation against him. 17. 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. . In cases in which immigrants resist the cartel's offer, CJNG members often threatened violence to them or their loved ones back in Mexico, according to court cases and law enforcement officials. In a Chicago money-laundering case, a Guadalajara businessman working with CJNG urged an informant to settle his drug debt quickly, describing how cartel members settled another mans debt: "They chopped off his fingers.". This case is another example of how CJNG is increasingly vying for turf in Michoacn, the birthplace of its leader, Rubn Oseguera Cervantes. Known as CJNG, the cartel is a global powerhouse, detected on every continent except Antarctica. They are surrounded by 13 masked men, apparently Los Zetas hitmen, who point their rifles at them. He and Helida Montes, his partner for 16 years, settled their two children in Oregon City as Farfan grew his business, roping in two of his nephews. Narcocorrido band Grupo Arriesgado forced out of Tijuana for singing about CJNG. It has an army of 5,000 members, including some former police officers. All rights reserved. Even if U.S. and Mexican investigators can track El Mencho's location, capturing him won't be easy. He can be contacted atbdarby@breitbart.com. Those who tried to run were tortured, killed and sometimescannibalizedby fellow recruits in what U.S. federal agents describe as a disturbing riteof passage. his anguished parents asked. Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. The knives stabbed into the corpse fixed boards with messages to the body, one of which read "the traitor" in Spanish, Vice reports. ", "The cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!". 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. He can be contacted atIortiz@breitbart.com. Armas and his wife, known as "Coco," used a handful of drug associates to store and repackage the drugs and drive them to Seaside and surrounding areas. hammering his body with at least three bullets, stolen cars converted into armored vehicles to drones and high-powered machine guns. WARNING: THE VIDEO IS EXTREMELY DISTURBING AND GRAPHIC AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE TO ALL AUDIENCES. 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. "Anyone who does the same will suffer. 2023www.courier-journal.com. The teenager sneaked into the U.S. and triedto build a customer base as a street-level dealer. And federal prosecutors alleged in court that convicted drug traffickerJesus Enrique Palomera, theleader of a cartel cell in Tacoma, Washington, ordered the kidnapping and murderof a manwhose fingers and toes werechopped off a commonmethod of torturein Mexico. The unending stream of narcotics has contributed to this countrys unprecedented addiction crisis, devastating families and killing more than 300,000 people since 2013. Americans who may not know of CJNG today should take note, Dodds said. CJNGmembers or associates would sell drugs to traffickers inWisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, California, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois and North Carolina. 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. Reply Delete Immigrants, some fleeing criminal violence themselves, can be victimized by cartels on both sides of the border and unfairly targeted by U.S. political rhetoric or perceptions stoked by cartel crime. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. They found drugs and drug couriers, including a former nurse, linked back to Hillsboro in neighboring Washington County. According to U.S. officials, the CJNG is now the primary drug trafficking outfit in 24 of Mexico's 32 states. Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password. 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. He quickly amassed a privatearmy, with CJNG members recruitingor kidnappinghundreds of men in their 20s and boys as young as 12. Federal police officer Ivan Morales, his partner andsoldierswith theMexican national defense climbed aboard helicopters andheaded toward a CJNG compound in theJaliscomountains. Brenda and Karl Cooley of Louisville certainly didnt know his name when their son Adam overdosed on fentanyl in March 2017. The case took place in Marcos Castellanos, Michoacan, where gunmen stormed a funeral service and forced mourners to line up against a wall before opening fire. The cartel alsorecruitsspies in theMexicangovernment and policeto keep its leaders out of jail and avoid drug busts. El Mencho and his cartel, with more than 5,000 members worldwide, have a clear-cut objective: "They want to control the entire drug market," said Matthew Donahue, who oversees foreign operations for the DEA. El Mencho eventually joined the Milenio Cartel, gaining a reputation as a cunning sicario, or hitman, and then a boss of hitmen in Guadalajara, Jalisco's capital city. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. "My family knows Im not that person. Walker then secured search warrants to monitor social media accounts, where drug ring members chatted in code on Facebook Messenger. Flames leftMoralesdisabled and disfigured. 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. "As well as the violence and corruption that puts at risk the neighbor with which the United States shares an enormous land border, and in which thousands of U.S. companies operate, and U.S. citizens live.". The couple's daughter, age 11, also was home. Alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel arrested on smuggling charges in 2010 Credit: . 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. Twomasterminds now in prisonorchestrated the scheme from Guadalajara:Carlos Parra Pedroza,aliasWalt Disney, who owned a jewelry store; and Diego Pineda Sanchez, an accountant. But wrestling for land jurisdiction is only a piece of the CJNG puzzle. Just hours after the crash, the cartel carried out coordinated attacks in 39 cities, blowingup banks, gas stations and setting cars and semis on fire on major highways to slow down police reinforcements. "But its a little different when you go to Boise, Idaho, and other small towns where they dont have the resources to really focus on an international cartel.". Farfan also had to hand over $100,000. Alarmed by CJNG's surging violence in Mexico andcontinued expansion across this country, U.S. officials have pushed back. 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. ", "He said: 'I'll do the time. In a desperate bid to cling to its remaining territory, the group has joined forces with a former rival: a fast-growing cartel called the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Signed Elite Group.". He dropped out of sixth grade to helphis family pickavocados. The victim screamed in pain and begged them to kill him. VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. The CJNG cartel and its backroads drug pipeline had caught the attention of federal authorities, who . "It's gonna be hard to catch him slippin'," said Mori, the DEA agent overseeing the U.S. criminal investigation against El Mencho. "El Mencho, a former police officer, knows that violence and fear are what keepthese cartels in power within Mexico. 17 555 49 1. At night,from 2015 through April2017, Maciasdirected the flow of $30 millionworth ofheroin, cocaine, ecstasy, crystal meth and fentanylfromMexico to Kentucky's two largest cities:Lexington and Louisville. Police grabbed him, finding two kilos of fentanyl stuffed in a backpack. 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. They stormed a hideout west of Guadalajara, but the cartel leader climbed into a vehicle and was rushed to safety. "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. Last year, a judge sentenced Eduardo to 30 months behind bars, followed by five years supervised release. His cousin, Roberto Carlos Farfan Alvarez, known as "Raton" or "Mouse," pleaded guilty but never talked to police. At least three people including a pregnant woman in her early 20s languish in critical condition in Guanajuato,Mexico, after their hands were chopped off and their bleeding bodies were thrown from the back of a truck last week. During his three months in jail, he got sober. Observers and anti-trafficking personnel who closely monitor the CJNG, which emerged around 2009 after splintering from the Sinaloa cartel, broadly conclude that much of its bloody approach can be attributed to its ruthless leader, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera. Cannibalism in Mexico! 1 / 6. Zetas behead and dismember four women from the Gulf Cartel The video shows four women on their knees in a field, their hands tied behind their backs. First, Mexican cartel suppliers established a pipeline to the Portland area. Three of them are bare-chested. But Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador declined Trump's offer for U.S. troops, saying his country doesn't need help. Hisoffice has prosecuted Sinaloa and CJNG members. After agents toppled the drug ring, the cartel turned on the gang. 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. Prosecutors successfully pushed for 15 years in their sentencing memo, pointing to Farfan's "unwillingness to stop drug trafficking and his unwillingness to remain outside of the United States." It could hide 9 kilos of drugs and a pile of cash. In early-morning raids Wednesday, federal agents fanned out across the U.S., culminating a six-month investigation with the primary goal of dismantling the upper echelon of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG. or redistributed. He is loving, respectful and a very caring human being.". "I promise, you will hear more about El Mencho.". The cartel circulates these images of torture and execution on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to spread fear and intimidation. . "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. Jason Hoover, who oversaw Walker and teamed to raid area drug houses in the case. In America,ElMenchoexpectscartel members and associates to avoid violence, hidewealth anddisguise their CJNG affiliations, agents say. The Farfans and other defendants mulling over plea offers took it as a threat if they mentioned any cartel connections. 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. He shares intel with the DEA,but not his own people. Yet, no sooner had authorities busted Kentucky's CJNG ringthan the cartel replaced Macias, sending in another team. More than 60 were targeted, including a biotech consulting company, a bakery and hillside vacation cabins. When he gets out, he again faces deportation. CJNG, which routinely faces off with its No. More:This small-town Oregon bricklayer had a side hustle: Gun supplier for Mexican drug cartel. Using others to deposit drug profitsin cartel-controlled bankaccounts. CJNG, which routinely faces off with its No. Cartel members issued a stark warning in Mexico that reverberated through the drug network in Oregon. He remained in prison until his deportation in 2015, court records show. His attorney, Noel Grefenson, declined comment for this story. The judge also noted that while there was no evidence Farfan was physically violent, "the drugs that he played a role in distributing, including as a leader, caused so much harm in our community.". Smaller police forces. He also didn't want to be shunned by his close-knit family for betraying his uncle, a senior relative. //]]>. "The threat of Mexican cartel violence and the drugs they bring into our nation cant be overstated," said Russell Coleman, the top federal prosecutor for the Western District of Kentucky. The CJNG has also been accused of directly extorting businesses in the capital. From there, Victor Farfan and his inner circle supplied drug trafficker John Armas in Hillsboro. According to the military, the vehicles were used by the CDG (Gulf Cartel) to transport drugs and hitmen. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is Mexico's most violent crime gang. We see them operating illegal marijuana farms in southern Oregon.". The Elite Group is the top tier enforcement wing of the Jalisco New GeneralCartel, often referred to as CJNG. He ran a drug network that trafficked kilos of meth with help from his then-wife, Socorro Elena Gutierrez, from their Washington County home. The investigation documented CJNG operations in at least 35 states and Puerto Rico, a sticky web that has snared struggling business owners, thousands of drug users and Mexican immigrants terrified to challenge cartel orders. Garbage. CHINESE 'CARTELS' QUIETLY OPERATING IN MEXICO, AIDING US DRUG CRISIS. For 53-year-old El Mencho, success did not come early. But betrayal awaited, "We see these nodes or pockets of cartel-related activity springing up in small, rural towns on the east side of Washington, in metropolitan areas like Portland and Seattle. During a brief telephonecallfrom prison in August 2019,Palomerasaid heis a family manwhonever harmed anyone. It has an army of 5,000 members . Unlike most cartels and affiliated crime units that permeate Mexico, the CJNG has long posted its most extreme real-life horror films on display for the world to see across social media beheaded bodies left to hang and rot on bridges in broad daylight and beatings so brutal that the sound of bones cracking can be heard. There's a reason why gente de Sinaloa stay in business while everyone else eats shit and goes away. VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. Additional Video Update: There is an additional video of a fight against state police that took place in the town of Tizapn El Alto. 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. 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. When authorities arrested him, they found twoassault rifles, one inscribed with "Menchito" little Mencho and anotherengraved with"CJNG 02 JR.". In turn, the Sinaloans killed a high-ranking CJNG boss in the area, Emiliano Torres Ramrez AKA El Agapo. It has drug cells all across the U.S., even in tiny towns. "The violence in Mexico and elsewhere is something that doesn't stop at the border. Tifa Winters. All rights reserved. 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. 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. //