He received credit for time in jail awaiting trial and has since been released and deported. Who is El Mencho, the most powerful drug kingpin in the world? 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. They seized more than $1 million in drug moneyhis couriers were hauling to Mexico. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Those who refuse bribesare threatened or killed. Roberto never talked to agents or prosecutors. The Courier Journal's investigation into CJNG's surge comes during a recent wave of significantviolence among warring drug cartels in Mexico. Legal Statement. Este es el #Mxico de @lopezobrador_ @BreitbartNews @elpais_america pic.twitter.com/E7kek1yNK4, Mxico Cdigo Rojo (@MexicoRojo1) February 28, 2022. 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. Smaller towns. He was thought to be one of the leaders of Carteles Unidos. By the time of the hearing, the veteran was 560 days sober. The Courier Journal could not say with certainty who supplied the drugs that killed Adam Cooley. His boss, Eddie Kane, Calumet's general manager, declined repeated requests for comment. Throughout Mexico, more than 40,000 children and adults remain missing. 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. And the lifelong, medieval punishment of physical disability is one that has become synonymous with both state and non-state actors over the years, from ISIS and al-Qaeda to theIranianregime. Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. Flames leftMoralesdisabled and disfigured. He was thought to be one of the leaders of Carteles Unidos. To an extent, it worked, illustrating how cartels manipulate on both sides of the border through threats and violence. El Mencho was deported in 1997and then traveled to Tijuana. 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. U.S. officials have . Through corruption and intimidation, CJNG has thrived, even as it found additional ways to make money. Using others to deposit drug profitsin cartel-controlled bankaccounts. They are surrounded by 13 masked men, apparently Los Zetas hitmen, who point their rifles at them. If someone you love dies from an overdose tonight, he may very well be to blame. It is known for its aggressive use of violence and its public relations campaigns. 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. During a brief telephonecallfrom prison in August 2019,Palomerasaid heis a family manwhonever harmed anyone. CJNG is "among us. ", Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. 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. Hearing the word "cartel" uttered in open court instantly rattled Eduardo. He co-founded Breitbart Texas Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Alton Strupp and Matt Stone, Louisville Courier Journal. "That's the type ofterrorists were dealing with here.". To use social login you have to agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. A federal grand jury had indicted him and more than 20 others on money laundering and drug trafficking charges. Those who tried to run were tortured, killed and sometimescannibalizedby fellow recruits in what U.S. federal agents describe as a disturbing riteof passage. Known as CJNG, the cartel is a global powerhouse, detected on every continent except Antarctica. But someCJNGbossesdidnt follow those rules. In Hillsboro, a suburb 30 minutes west of Portland, a savvy drug cell leader supplied by Victor Farfan seemed untouchable. All rights reserved. But soon, he was asked to deliver drugs. More:US drug czar wants India to stem flow of chemicals used by Mexican cartels for fentanyl. Jason Hoover, who oversaw Walker and teamed to raid area drug houses in the case. "There would be times on surveillance where you'd see 15 to 25 people roaming the local trap house waiting for the next supply to come in, walking around or sitting in cars, just waiting," said Walker, who later left the department. Someone aware of the Lexington-Louisville operation talked to a DEA agent in 2016, who, in turn, flagged investigators in Kentucky. Selling drugs in bulk to local traffickers, who then sold to area dealers. Sheriff's investigators say a Paducah, Kentucky, business owner who fell behind on a drug debt was warned last year by the cartel: "If we dont get our money, were gonna kill you and your family.. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is Mexico's most violent crime gang. The teenager sneaked into the U.S. and triedto build a customer base as a street-level dealer. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. Investigators uncovered three main pieces of the puzzle that revealed a snapshot of how this drug ring thrived. The cartels, including CJNG, are feeling empowered because of the rampantviolence in Mexico, said Paul Craine, a retired DEA supervisor who oversaw the U.S. hunt for El Chapo. The United Cartel carried out the attack against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel [CJNG] on the border separating northern states Michoacan and Jalisco earlier this month. Law enforcement agencies say that Mexican cartels have been targeting tourist destinations along the Oregon coast in an attempt to conceal their operations. "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. The CJNG is one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico and has been behind some of the deadliest attacks on Mexican security forces, such as a 2015 ambush in Jalisco which left 15 officers dead. In a Nov. 5 tweet, after nine people including six children with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship were killed by cartels(though different ones than CJNG), President Donald Trump vowed to assist Mexican officials "in cleaning out these monsters. It also forbids any U.S. bank to approve loans or credit card transactions for those CJNG-backed enterprises. Alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel arrested on smuggling charges in 2010 Credit: . Even after El Mencho's girlfriend went to prison, the cartel quickly returned to the Gulf Coast with more loads of drugs. 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 . It has drug cells all across the U.S., even in tiny towns. Agents say he typically travels in a convoy, surrounding himself withdozens of well-trained mercenaries armed with military-grade weapons that can tear through tanks, even aircraft. Unlike his reclusive father, the 25-year-old lived in a luxury high-rise apartment in downtown Guadalajara and often stepped out in designer clothes to eat in fancy restaurants. Months later, the veteran texted his adult son about his gratitude that agents arrested him, saving his life. All rights reserved. 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. Walker realized he wasn't the only one watching this drug ring. Dozens of couriers throughout the U.S. would then collect the drug profits and use the dirty moneyto buy scrap and fine gold. But federal agents say CJNG was Kentuckys main supplier of fentanyl at the time of his death. . His followers have spread tonearly all of Mexico's 32 states, including the cities ofGuadalajara and Tijuana, both crucial to moving drugs into the U.S. From there, ElMencho's empire went global, withasteady and growing customerbasein the U.S., as well as in Australia, Europe andJapan. Irma Isaisa Jasmine Arroyo, 10, whose body was found maimed and semi incinerated on 28 January in the city of Tecoman. According to U.S. officials, the CJNG is now the primary drug trafficking outfit in 24 of Mexico's 32 states. Because it's here, A short film: What Courier Journal uncovered about Jalisco New Generation Cartel's El Mencho. 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. 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. CJNG burns rivals face alive as a way of mocking his nickname Ghost Rider. The 21-year-old cartel leader, one of El Mencho's main underlings in Michoacn state, was killed when her heavily armed group launched a firefight with police. It's a very demoralizing experience for the male who was not only failed by the cartel. 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.". The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is targeting and killing police officers at their homes in Guanajuato, Mexico's most violent state and the most dangerous for police. //]]>. The knives stabbed into the corpse fixed boards with messages to the body, one of which read "the traitor" in Spanish, Vice reports. VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. 7. He is loving, respectful and a very caring human being.". At first, he supervised work crews at his uncle's construction business building houses, Roberto's attorney, Robert Salisbury, said. "Anyone who does the same will suffer. He remained in prison until his deportation in 2015, court records show. Four years later, he was caught selling drugs out of a southeast Portland auto repair shop. Other bosses used threats of violence in the U.S., despite El Mencho's warnings against it. 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. 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. Alarmed by CJNG's surging violence in Mexico andcontinued expansion across this country, U.S. officials have pushed back. El Menchos powerful international syndicate is flooding the U.S. with thousands of kilos of methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl every year despite being targeted repeatedly by undercover stings, busts and lengthy investigations. While Luis Alderete maintains his innocence,court records show that his brother, Roberto Alderete, identified Luis asa cartel lieutenant. Armas, in turn, supplied the former nurse and other dealers who carted the drugs further west into Seaside and other communities in Clatsop. While the CJNG makes no effortsto hide its beef with adverse cartels and Mexican military and law enforcement, civilians are all too often caught in the cryptic crossfire. [CDATA[ The answer, The Courier Journal found, kept pointing to CJNG. Pictures taken of the victims show them blindfolded, with their arms and legs bound. 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. 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. Guanajuato. In addition, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has a $10 million bounty on El Mencho's head, given that his rule and his rapid rise to power also bears a devastating impact across the U.S. "While the distribution in U.S. markets is principally through affiliated gangs and proxy groups, the CJNG is thusindirectly responsible for the production of illicit drugs that kill thousands of Americans," Ellis said. 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. 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. The gruesome crimes took place in Mexico's state of Colima. More unchecked opportunities. CJNGmembers or associates would sell drugs to traffickers inWisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, California, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois and North Carolina. Eduardo, known as "Pollo" or "Chicken," began running errands, or drug runs, for his uncle when he was 20 or 21 and claims he had no understanding of the scope of the drug ring or the risks he was taking. Eduardo mulled over his future. U.S. drug agents believe he's in western Mexico, hiding in remote jungles or mountains of Jalisco, Colima or Michocan. "We consider this cartel to be one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations on the face of the Earth, and it is doing unimaginable damage to the people of this nation," Sessions said. He doesn't make wild errors; he doesn't hesitate; one word for el Mecho is 'calculated,'" Wesley said. "I was surprised that CJNGs efforts and tentacles were reaching into Kentucky, that they had expanded their reach that rapidly, said Evans, who previously headed the Louisville Field Division. During his three months in jail, he got sober. Mexican Cartel Members Behead Two Men. After his escape, the U.S. took its manhunt public. Agents say Macias didn'tinvolveCalumet in his drug crimes. A judge sentenced Roberto to three years in custody in January 2021. He knew he faced deportation back within reach of the cartels. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. In eightmonths, Sosas crew laundered about $1million for CJNG,stacking drugs and cash behind a wall of their trailer. Reporters Jonathan Bullington, Kala Kachmar, Chris Kenning andKarol Suarez contributed to 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.". On April 13, 2017, federal agents arrested Maciason his way to Calumet Farm. And, in a 2019 case pending in federal court,an accused cartel lieutenantconnected to Chicago drug trafficking settled into a $2 million Nashville condo. Authorities identified one of the four victims as Rey Jose Poblete Ramos, a man with a lengthy criminal history. "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.". Adults and children are forced to work in CJNG's crude meth super labs vats on patches of dirt hidden in the jungle. It is a forsaken endeavor to deter CJNG hitmen from infiltrating their neighborhoods. This week, murderers from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Ensenada, Baja California, failed to assassinate an operator of the Sinaloa Cartel. Bizarre / Cartel / Murder / Pure Gore. El Menchos drug empire "is putting poison on the streets of the U.S.," said Chris Evans, who runs the DEAs day-to-day global operations. He briefly worked as a police officer in Tomatln, a small town in Jalisco, learningthe inner workings of law enforcement,said DEA Special Agent Kyle Mori, who is heading the U.S. criminal investigationagainstEl Mencho fromLos Angeles. 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. 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. Rapid gunfire could be heard in videos that appeared to have been recorded at the scene of the mass murder. He ran a drug network that trafficked kilos of meth with help from his then-wife, Socorro Elena Gutierrez, from their Washington County home. Their current. Signed Elite Group.". 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. 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. When he gets out, he again faces deportation. The unending stream of narcotics has contributed to this countrys unprecedented addiction crisis, devastating families and killing more than 300,000 people since 2013. Snchez was once a top lieutenant in the CJNG, but split to form his own cartel called La Nueva Plaza in 2017. A young woman en route to selling street food was also fatally struck by a stray bullet through a car window. ", "The cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!". The CJNG has been fighting the Sinaloa Cartel in Zacatecas with one recent clash in June killing 35 people. VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED. While some moves targeted the cartels finances, others were more personal. "The CJNG is one of the most powerful (cartels) and in a short time may become the dominating force in Mexico if not restrained. When authorities arrested him, they found twoassault rifles, one inscribed with "Menchito" little Mencho and anotherengraved with"CJNG 02 JR.". Provided by McCracken County Sheriff's Department. "I know Im not that person," he said, refusing to elaborate. Follow him onTwitterandFacebook. It has drug cells all across the U.S., even in tiny towns. She must report to a federal probation officer for five years. "Our community is paying a steep price," said Carlos Guevara, a senior policy adviser for UnidosUS, Americas largest Latino civil rights organization. American authorities are still seeking his extradition to the U.S. to face drug charges. The incident is only one of many deeds of bloodshed to have been carried out by the CJNG, whose barbarity is said to be on ascendance in recent weeks and months spilling on to U.S. soil and livelihoods. "I promise, you will hear more about El Mencho.". That load was headed from Portland to Baltimore. One of them interrogates the semi-nude Mendoza, who admits he sold drugs in Valle de Santiago, where gunmen assaulted a police station on Friday, killing five prisoners and freeing another. 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. The victims' wrists were tied using ligatures to prevent them all from bleeding to death. on January 26, 2022. In mid-October, 13 Mexican police officers were killed in an ambush in El Mencho's home state of Michoacn in western Mexico. The couple's daughter, age 11, also was home. 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. The Farfans and other defendants mulling over plea offers took it as a threat if they mentioned any cartel connections. As they hovered over a cartel convoy, CJNG members fired Russian-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers, shooting down Morales helicopterinto a cluster of trees. 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. Mexican marines almost captured El Mencho in October 2018. Officials in Attorney General William Barr's office declined to comment on The Courier Journal's findings. Adam died midsentence while writing a thank-you note to a friend on the eve of entering a rehab facility. "Big cities have big police departments and DEA, FBI and (Homeland Security Investigations) and an ability to look at intelligence and focus on their cells and contacts, said the DEA's Donahue. Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) gunmen lined up at least 17 victims and shot them during a funeral in western Mexico Sunday. Two years earlier, they stumbled onto a drug business at the same auto repair shop allegedly run by suspect Jose Cruz Gutierrez Bustos. 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. Most people don't associate drug trafficking with the scenic tourist destinations along the Oregon coast, but Mexican cartels seek less scrutiny there. With a $10 million reward on his head, hes on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations Most Wanted list. 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. Warren traveled to six cities in the U.S. and reviewed thousands of documents in more than 100 court cases and sought prison interviews with more than two dozen cartel members and associates. Based on the average street value, its trade could net upwards of $8.1 billion for cocaine and $4.6 billion for crystal meth each year. 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. "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. Signs have also pointed to CJNG widening its footprint in the capital, Mexico City, aligning itself with the Fuerza Anti-Union gang to tackle the city's most extensive criminal enterprise, La Unin Tepito. 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. 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. "Once the cartel brings a huge load across (the border) and throws it out there for everyone to sell, its out of their hands. Experts estimate that the CJNG also brings in the millions in a multitude of methods aside from the drug trade including illegal mining, human trafficking, money laundering, and the extortion of farmers and their families for a cut in avocado exports and the forced protection payment or else meet a premature death. I don't want to put my wife, my family in danger.'". He also didn't want to be shunned by his close-knit family for betraying his uncle, a senior relative. There's a lot of family back in Michoacn.". This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "Theyre a business," Hammer said of cartels. He had to pay $50,000. "If an agent saw him, we couldnt say, 'Hey, were gonna grab El Mencho right now, take him and put him into custody.' 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.