CJNG: MEXICO’S EMERGING DRUG CARTEL

 This article was written by Iñigo Camilleri De Castanedo and originally published on Grey Dynamics.

Starting life as the armed wing of the Cartel de Sinaloa, the CJNG formally separated from its parent organization and has exponentially evolved to be one of the major organized crime players in Mexico. Despite early success, the group is facing rival organizations, splinter groups, and the Mexican and U.S. government:

• It is likely that the CJNG has deterred governmental efforts to tackle organized crime. A lack of governmental aid combined with humanitarian efforts by the CJNG has likely increased the social roots and legitimacy of the group amongst communities.
• The targeting high-government officials will likely increase. The pandemic has limited the governmental capability to counter organized crime, and the CJNG has an opportunity to signal intentions and expand with a reduced risk of resistance.
• Violent clashes between the CJNG and local organized crime groups will highly likely increase. A damaged criminal economy will push groups to compete for territory and sources of revenue which are controlled in their majority by the CJNG or the Sinaloa Cartel. . . 

Read the following: CJNG: MEXICO’S EMERGING DRUG CARTEL

Not Everyone Is Happy With CJNG

MS 13 In The Americas

 MS13 in the Americas: How the World’s Most Notorious Gang Defies Logic, Resists Destruction

Insight Crime

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) is one of the world’s largest and arguably most violent street gangs. After relatively humble beginnings in Los Angeles in the 1980s, it has spread to more than a half-dozen countries and become a central focus of law enforcement in two hemispheres. In spite of these efforts, the MS13 remains a persistent threat and shows signs of expanding its criminal portfolio. This report attempts to explain what makes the MS13 such a difficult problem for authorities to tackle. It focuses on assisting law enforcement’s understanding of the gang’s criminal activities, but it includes deep discussion on the social and political issues around the MS13. Below are our major findings.. . 

MS 13 In The Americas 

Nobody Has Seen A Cartel Like This

"That will probably be a permanent feature for the next decade. The reason is, CJNG is like no other cartel the world has ever seen before in terms of its reach, its financial, military and organizational power," Bensman said. "Nobody has seen a cartel like this."

'Nobody has seen a cartel like this': DOJ targets Mexico's most powerful drug organization
by Leandra Bernstein

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has designated Mexican drug cartels as the "greatest criminal drug threat to the United States" for the past four years. This week, the Justice Department announced it was narrowing in on a relatively new network that has surpassed other transnational criminal organizations in its power and reach into the United States.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions formally announced the creation of a multi-agency task force to target five transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) deemed the greatest threats to U.S. safety and prosperity. The groups include MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, Clan del Golfo, Lebanese Hezbollah and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG. . .

CJNG Like No Other Cartel

MS 13 Resurgence

  Jessica M. Vaughan is the director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. Research assistance was provided by Preston Huennekens, a research assistant at the Center for Immigration Studies, and Joseph Kolb, executive director of the Southwest Gang Information Center. The map was created by Bryan Griffith, the Center’s multimedia director, and Preston Huennekens.

The Trump administration has declared war on MS-13, the notoriously brutal gang based in El Salvador. A similar initiative launched by the Bush administration in 2005 stifled the gang's activity after several years, but the gang has been able to rebuild itself here since 2012.

Center researchers reviewed more than 500 cases of MS-13 gang members arrested nationwide since 2012. We conclude that this resurgence represents a very serious threat to public safety in communities where MS-13 has rebuilt itself. The resurgence is directly connected to the illegal arrival and resettlement of more than 300,000 Central American youths and families that has continued unabated for six years, and to a de-prioritization of immigration enforcement in the interior of the country that occurred at the same time.

All criminal gangs are a threat to public safety, but MS-13 is a unique problem because of the unusually brutal crimes its members have committed, its success in using intimidation to victimize and control people in its territory, and its focus on recruiting young members, often in schools.

Nevertheless, because such a large share of MS-13 members are not citizens, they are especially vulnerable to law enforcement, and many can be removed from the communities they terrorize. Strategic use of immigration enforcement is a necessary element to disrupting and dismantling MS-13 gangs and any other transnational criminal organization operating in our communities.

The proliferation of sanctuary policies that interfere with cooperation between state and local law enforcement agencies threatens to hamper efforts to stifle MS-13 activity. The federal government must take steps to clarify how federal law permits such cooperation and also must set up consequences for those jurisdictions and officials who impose sanctuary policies. . . 

Read:  MS 13 Resurgence