SUMMARY

The Jalisco Cartel New Generation is one of the major drug trafficking cartels in Mexico battling other cartels for control over territory and smuggling routes.

The group was formed out of the remnants of the Milenio faction of the Sinaloa cartel which had been run by the Sinaloa Cartel’s number two commander, Ignacio “El Nacho” Coronel Villarreal. Allegedly cracks began to form within the Milenio Cartel, an element of the Sinaloa Cartel and when Coronel was killed in late July, 2010, the cartel ultimately split into two factions: the Jalisco Cartel New Generation and the Resistencia Cartel.

Following the death of Coronel, on 29 July 2010, Erick “El 85” Valencia Salazar (arrested 9 March 2012), Martin “El 53” Arzola Ortega (arrested 15 July 2012 ), and Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, formed the Jalisco Cartel New Generation and began its aggressive campaign of expansion.

Initially the group battled the Sinaloa Cartel for control over Jalisco but by the mid-summer of 2011 the group had formed an alliance with the Sinaloa Cartel and began battling the Zetas Cartel in locations as far away as the eastern city of Veracruz. During 2011 La Resistencia continued to battle the New Generation Cartel and allied itself with the Zetas.

During 2011 the Jalisco Cartel New Generation operated predominantly in the city of Guadalajara but also in the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima Guanajuato and Michoacán. In August of 2011 the group released a video in which it announced the formation of a unit called the Matazetas, Zeta killers, which it subsequently deployed in the eastern city of Veracruz. Beginning in the second half of 2011 the cartel rapidly expanded its operations throughout the country.

As the Jalisco Cartel New Generation continued to expand its presence throughout important drug trafficking areas in Mexico, the fighting with the traditionally dominant cartel in those areas, the Sinaloa Cartel, increased significantly. During 2016 in Baja California state, especially in the important transfer town of Tijuana, as well as in Baja California Sur state, the Jalisco Cartel New Generation was able to recruit many from the Tijuana Cartel which joined them in their fight against the Sinaloa Cartel. This new enforcement gang was called CTNG, Tijuana Cartel New Generation, and was under the command and part of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation.

The Jalisco Cartel New Generation has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organized violence.