Jalisco New Generation Cartel Becomes First Cartel in History to Have Presence in All 32 Mexican States

The Mexican war on drugs has reached a new disturbing milestone with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) officially becoming the first criminal organization in Mexico to establish an operational presence across all 32 federal entities. U.S. and Mexican intelligence agencies have confirmed the CJNG's presence from Baja California to Yucatán.

"This is historic. Never before has a cartel had control or presence in all 32 federal entities. Not even the CDS (Sinaloa Cartel) in its prime," said Mexican organized crime expert and journalist Oscar Balmen, regarding a DEA map showing the expansion of the CJNG throughout the country: central, northern, and southern regions.

The map is dated from January 2025, before the war in Sinaloa between Los Chapitos and La Mayiza escalated, and images emerged as proof of an alliance between the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and the CJNG.

A Cartel of this century

According to the DEA's 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, CJNGwas founded in 2009 from the remnants of the Milenio Cartel by Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, CJNG swiftly rose to prominence. By 2012, its influence had already extended from coast to coast. Regarded as one of Mexico's most violent and modern transnational criminal organizations, CJNG's influence has grown further each year.

In states with less influence, the CJNG has franchise affiliates or local commanders active. These affiliates operate under CJNG banners, embedding themselves in local criminal economies and often clashing with rival cartels, including Sinaloa, Los Zetas, and La Familia Michoacana.

Part of CJNG's ascent lies in its brutal militarized tactics and recruitment strategies. Reports have documented "ranches" where recruits, often teenage boys, are kidnapped with false job offers, indoctrinated through torture, and forced to kill or mutilate to earn acceptance. These so-called "schools of terror" cultivate fearsome loyalty and desensitization, complementing CJNG's deadly reputation. Recruits have also been reported to be lured by the cartel through social media.

In March 2025, a group of volunteers called the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco, looking for their missing relatives, received an anonymous tip about a hidden ranch outside Guadalajara. At the ranch, they discovered three cremation ovens, 200 pairs of shoes, along with other personal items, and hundreds of bone fragments.

To reinforce its reach and firepower, CJNG has recruited former combatants from Colombia. Reports emerged in mid-2025 that Colombian former guerrillas were secretly training cartel units in Michoacán, equipping them with guerrilla tactics and discipline. This militarization has had lethal consequences. In May 2025, six soldiers were killed in Michoacán when an improvised explosive device detonated during a routine patrol. The attack has been attributed to CJNG's paramilitary cell.

Financially, CJNG has diversified aggressively into fuel theft, extortion, avocado laundering, and real estate scams, generating hundreds of millions in illicit revenue. Its financial arm, Los Cuinis, has also been sanctioned for money laundering tied to its global narcotics trade. In February 2025, the U.S. State Department designated CJNG a foreign terrorist organization, one of only a handful of cartels to receive such a designation, citing its methods of terror and cross-border trafficking of fentanyl and weapons.