The death of Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) leader “El Mencho” on February 22nd marked a significant security development, with the surge of violence that followed underscoring the cartel’s capacity for widespread and lethal retaliation.
Since emerging in 2009, the group has repeatedly used brutal violence as a mechanism of control, while also using force to respond to Mexican government attempts to crack down on the cartel and its leadership. Ongoing research at START examines patterns in the types and targets of CJNG-related violence, finding that civilians were frequently targeted alongside security forces and rival criminal groups from 2020 to 2024, as reflected in mapped data from that period.
START’s “Tracking Cartels” project provides a broader context, tracing CJNG’s rapid and violent expansion between 2009 and 2019 and concluding that its growth was driven primarily by force rather than stable alliances.
The previously released infographic outlines CJNG’s origins following the collapse of the Milenio Cartel. Initially appearing in 2009 under the name “Matazetas” in Cancún, Quintana Roo, the group publicly signaled its presence through narco-messaging tied to targeted killings. In September 2011, CJNG formally debuted under its current name during a mass killing in Boca del Río, Veracruz. Over the following decade, the group expanded into multiple states, using coordinated violence and messaging campaigns to assert control.
The timeline highlights several key events, including CJNG’s entry into Michoacán and Tamaulipas in 2012, high-profile attacks against Mexican security forces in Jalisco in 2015—including the downing of a Mexican military helicopter—and its expansion into Guanajuato in 2017 to control access to illicit petroleum markets. By 2019, the group had expanded further into Michoacán amid violent clashes over avocado-producing territories.
The report describes CJNG as emblematic of a “modern” transnational criminal organization, combining traditional narcotics trafficking with diversification into extortion, money laundering, kidnapping, petroleum theft, and human trafficking. The group has captured or contested control of major ports, including Veracruz, Manzanillo, and Lázaro Cárdenas, strengthening its access to precursor chemicals and global trafficking routes. It also continues to compete for key smuggling corridors along the U.S.–Mexico border, including Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana.
The infographic was developed as part of a broader research initiative led by START in partnership with two DHS Centers of Excellence: the Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis Center (CINA) and the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE), both of which are no longer active. The project aimed to triangulate open-source data to build a comprehensive picture of transnational criminal organizations operating in Mexico and the Northern Triangle.
The “Tracking Cartels” effort was supported by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of University Programs.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)
