Other bosses used threats of violence in the U.S., despite El Mencho's warnings against it. Jason Hoover, who oversaw Walker and teamed to raid area drug houses in the case. 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. When he gets out, he again faces deportation. After agents toppled the drug ring, the cartel turned on the gang. By 2018, the CJNG became the second most powerful cartel in Mexico, and was believed to have over 100 methamphetamine labs throughout the country. 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. CJNG Pigs Kill Child Mistaking Her for the Child of a Rival Narco. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. In May, a judge sentenced Armas to serve seven years and six months in prison, followed by five years of supervision. Who was to blame? 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. Officials in Attorney General William Barr's office declined to comment on The Courier Journal's findings. 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 violence in Mexico and elsewhere is something that doesn't stop at the border. The teenager sneaked into the U.S. and triedto build a customer base as a street-level dealer. It has an army of 5,000 members, including some former police officers. Police found seven guns in the couple's bedroom. On the run and out of sight, El Mencho is described by some veteran agents as a ghost. There, amid the lush pastures and white rail fences, a Mexican immigrant with asinister secret quietly groomed prized thoroughbreds at historic Calumet Farm, according to court records. His cousin, Roberto Carlos Farfan Alvarez, known as "Raton" or "Mouse," pleaded guilty but never talked to police. "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. ", "He said: 'I'll do the time. Armas also used a former nurse from Clatsop County who was battling addiction to cart drugs from Hillsboro to the coast. He is loving, respectful and a very caring human being.". 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. "Once the cartel brings a huge load across (the border) and throws it out there for everyone to sell, its out of their hands. The cartel has run brothels in Mexico, often using teens and women forced into CJNG's web. On April 13, 2017, federal agents arrested Maciason his way to Calumet Farm. He never mentioned suppliers in Mexico linked to a cartel, or what he called the Mexican mafia. LOG IN TO WATCH THIS VIDEO. Its extreme savagery in Mexico includes beheadings, public hangings, acid baths, even cannibalism. Explore the investigation wall showing the connections of El Mencho and CJNG cartel. 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. The . It's a common and effective tactic used by many cartels. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Mexico's cartel crackdown struggling despite victory? 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. including the drug-related killings of two Mexican brothers in 2014, one of whom was found . Those who tried to run were tortured, killed and sometimescannibalizedby fellow recruits in what U.S. federal agents describe as a disturbing riteof passage. That designation allowed the department to levy sanctions against Mexican businesses linked to the cartels, includinga sushi restaurant, a tequila business, shopping centers, a medical clinic, two newspapers and famed Hotelito Desconocido, visited by Hollywood stars. 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. This short film details The Courier Journal's investigation into CJNG and its leader, El Mencho, began in early 2019 and what was uncovered. Prosecutors say Parra Pedroza and Pineda Sanchezwould keepa percentage, with the rest going tocartel members in Mexico. The Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacin - CJNG) is a criminal group that has evolved as a result of killings, captures and rifts in older cartels. I hate violence," according to a transcript of the hearing, with Farfan appearing before the judge from prison on Zoom. 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. 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. There's a serious danger. CJNG's Kentucky strategy has been repeated in town after town across America, in places better known for cheese, cows and corn. Uncensored versions of the videos can be seen below. DEA agents take a suspect into custody during an arrest of a suspected drug trafficker on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 in Diamond Bar, Calif. "He has transformed his life from being an insular methamphetamine abuser to an active member of the recovery community, mentoring and guiding others who struggle," his attorney argued in a May 6, 2020, sentence memo asking for leniency. Someone aware of the Lexington-Louisville operation talked to a DEA agent in 2016, who, in turn, flagged investigators in Kentucky. 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. He had to pay $50,000. For example, a Lexington waitress seekingcash to pay fordental assistant courses ended up making bank deposits that she didnt know were for CJNG, according to court transcripts. Pineda Penaloza and his crew were convicted of drug trafficking and are now in federal prison. Passed over for promotion, ElMenchoteamed withhis in-laws who ran an affiliatedcartel and forged his own criminal organizationin early 2011 CJNG. 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. 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. Este es el #Mxico de @lopezobrador_ @BreitbartNews @elpais_america pic.twitter.com/E7kek1yNK4, Mxico Cdigo Rojo (@MexicoRojo1) February 28, 2022. Think of this violence extending into every facet of their global operations. 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. In mid-October, 13 Mexican police officers were killed in an ambush in El Mencho's home state of Michoacn in western Mexico. While Luis Alderete maintains his innocence,court records show that his brother, Roberto Alderete, identified Luis asa cartel lieutenant. The military veteran served in Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and didn't have a criminal history, but he and his wife suffered from addiction. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"AT9cPsLXmTcu5DvoOKyYtBnoaFpnyDzcOkF8t9PIjh4-1800-0"}; 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. Then he vanished, How this couple ran a redneck meth empire in an Appalachian county ravaged by addiction, How a Mississippi trooper almost took down the worlds most powerful cartel boss, Mother searches photos of mutilated dead men, hoping to find her abducted son, Officer disabled after helicopter shot down by rising Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The unending stream of narcotics has contributed to this countrys unprecedented addiction crisis, devastating families and killing more than 300,000 people since 2013. Mexican marines almost captured El Mencho in October 2018. Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. First, Mexican cartel suppliers established a pipeline to the Portland area. The CJNG has been fighting the Sinaloa Cartel in Zacatecas with one recent clash in June killing 35 people. Los Marros behead man, woman from CJNG cartel, Two men dismembered, ditched on road along with pizzas and cartel narcomantas, CJNG cartel members BBQ dismembered opps in Mexico, Sicarios who brutally stabbed two men to death dismembered in Mexico, Cartel members skin two men alive and wear their faces on their head. Yet, no sooner had authorities busted Kentucky's CJNG ringthan the cartel replaced Macias, sending in another team. Americans who may not know of CJNG today should take note, Dodds said. According to the military, the vehicles were used by the CDG (Gulf Cartel) to transport drugs and hitmen. March 30, 2022 MEXICO Grisly videos have emerged showing CJNG cartel members beheading rival narcos working under commands from La Vaca. The CJNG could take on the Sinaloa area, Baja California and the Golden Triangle, which it currently does not have in its control, but it's trying," said Wesley Tabor, a retired assistant special agent in charge of Los Angeles Field Division of the DEA. As Farfan's day of reckoning neared, he and his family pleaded for leniency. Histestimony helped convict a trafficker connected to CJNG in 2014. Despite the capture of certain top leaders, it is now Mexico's foremost criminal threat . In Hillsboro, a suburb 30 minutes west of Portland, a savvy drug cell leader supplied by Victor Farfan seemed untouchable. "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.". Make no mistake, Taylor said. But he kept getting caught. But Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador declined Trump's offer for U.S. troops, saying his country doesn't need help. 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. 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 cartels have become so large and powerful that you sometimes need an army to defeat an army!". Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. A pool of blood forms on the floor. Roberto, 22, had a fianc and young daughter in Morelia, a city in Michoacn. Much of the violence is attributed to the battle for territorial surface and thus the control oftheillicit drug flow into the United States. "Anyone who does the same will suffer. "They are, however, big on extortion and can turn to violence if victims refuse to cooperate," she asserted. 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. With a $10 million reward on his head, hes on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations Most Wanted list. In Mexico, El Mencho is a household name. "Police and civilians are dying, and the CJNG and continues unfettered, flooding the U.S. with methamphetamine and other drugs," Tabor added. . Legal Statement. Armas used the couple's home as a drug stash house, paying them with enough meth for their daily fix. For 53-year-old El Mencho, success did not come early. More:This small-town Oregon bricklayer had a side hustle: Gun supplier for Mexican drug cartel. The CJNG has also been accused of directly extorting businesses in the capital. When authorities arrested him, they found twoassault rifles, one inscribed with "Menchito" little Mencho and anotherengraved with"CJNG 02 JR.". Follow him onTwitterandFacebook. Snchez was once a top lieutenant in the CJNG, but split to form his own cartel called La Nueva Plaza in 2017. Two years earlier, they stumbled onto a drug business at the same auto repair shop allegedly run by suspect Jose Cruz Gutierrez Bustos. Mexican Cartel Members Sending Message To Rivals. In disturbing footage, thugs smash a man's face into a truck before kicking and punching him on the floor. 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. Additional Video Update: There is an additional video of a fight against state police that took place in the town of Tizapn El Alto. A high-ranking state official in Jaliscosaid Americans are too quick to blame Mexico for the U.S. drug crisis. 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