Great thread, I'm looking forward to cartel discussions
A few major CJNG guys recently got handed over to the US like El 85 and Tony Montana, and the US already had a bunch of significant CJNG/Los Cuinis guys in custody. I also saw El Cuini listed initially with the recent extraditions but then he was removed, but he could be the most significant asset of all for the US if they did get him. The US have been trying to get El Cuini extradited for years and years, so even if they didn't get their hands on him recently, you would think Mexico will buckle to pressure at some point
Plus with rumours of El Mencho being close to death/already dead because of illness (With his son just getting life imprisonment in the US), and CJNG in general being the most visible and notorious cartel in general no doubt making them a top priority for the Trump Admin's war on cartels, it would not surprise me if we are seeing the dying days of CJNG.
At the very least, they need to change their operations significantly and calm the fuck down with the military style expansionism if they want to avoid attention from the US. But I saw the other day they launched some attacks on the military in Jalisco and killed 6 guys, wounding 5 others
A fun little story about El Mencho that wasn't in OP - back before CJNG was a thing and in the whole curfuffle surrounding the end of the Milenio Cartel, El Mencho was apparently moments away from being executed but managed to talk his way out of it, ultimately being spared on the orders of former La Familia boss El Chango. So he has always been known as a smooth talker
Another funny thing, that became something of a meme, is this phonecall that was recorded of El Mencho putting some police commander in his place
Also OP doesn't really talk about Los Cuinis who are a super important backer of CJNG. Los Cuinis is basically the highly, highly secretive Valencia family (Who were formerly of the now dead Milenio cartel). El Mencho married into the Valencia family, and so CJNG and Los Cuinis are strongly linked, with Los Cuinis considered to be a major financial backer of CJNG. Los Cuinis are regarded, or at least were regarded some years ago, as the richest cartel in Mexico. While most cartels battled to control the US market, Los Cuinis very quietly took control of the European market
It is an odd relationship since while CJNG are known for being very theatrical and expansionist and hyper violent, Los Cuinis are the complete opposite and value total secrecy, and they are largely unknown to people who don't keep a close eye on cartel politics. They're more of a financially dominant cartel that controls a lot of legitimate businesses and is very economically savvy, but over the last few years a few of their top guys have been captured including El Cuini himself
