Spanish police on Tuesday announced the dismantling of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) office in Spain. The CJNG is one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States. The announcement coincides with a drug trafficking operation that led to 20 arrests, including two priority DEA targets and members of the Italian Camorra involved in international distribution.
The CJNG was founded just over a decade ago. However, it has grown rapidly because it uses a franchising model that allows several groups to operate under its command in Mexico, allowing it to wrest control from other organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel. He is known for his extreme violence and brutal tactics. The CJNG has been involved in numerous violent clashes and is responsible for a very high number of murders, as well as challenging government authority. The White House has designated it a terrorist organization and has offered substantial rewards for the capture of its leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho.”
Those arrested were allegedly involved in the smuggling of large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine hidden inside heavy industrial machinery. The drugs traveled from South America and were then distributed throughout Spain and other European countries. The investigation, called “Operation Oyamel”, was conducted by investigators from the Spanish National Court and the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office.
According to police investigations, the organization had “reactivated its operational structure” due to the arrival of a new shipment and had incorporated new Mexican members sent specifically by the CJNG. In total, officers seized 1,870 kilos of cocaine, 375 kilos of amphetamines, three guns and 15 vehicles, as well as 275,000 euros ($320,000) in cash.
The investigation began earlier this year, when officers discovered that cocaine was being smuggled inside heavy industrial machinery and that a Spanish businessman, allegedly employed by the cartel, was being used for this purpose. Once the drugs arrived in Spain, they were stored in properties located in the mountains near Madrid and Ávila.
The drugs were distributed in Valencia and Bilbao in vehicles with hidden compartments, while for international transport the organization had other properties in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), where the industrial machinery with the drugs hidden inside were received and shipped in the same way to Italy.
The first shipment of cocaine to Italy was discovered in September by a Neapolitan Camorra boss from the Amato-Pagano clan.
The investigators divided the operation into two phases. In the first they arrested the main members of the organization, in the second they concentrated on the key distribution points in Valencia and the Basque Country. Of the 20 suspects arrested, 15 were placed in pre-trial detention.
At the time of the arrests, officers, in coordination with Dutch authorities, intercepted a load hidden in industrial machinery traveling in a sea container from Costa Rica.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel is believed to have carried out an attack in 2020 against Omar García Harfuch, the security czar of Claudia Sheinbaum, who was Mexico City’s police chief at the time. The gunmen fired more than 400 shots, killing one of his bodyguards.
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