Despite the fact that local authorities have denied the presence of the El Mencho organization, new evidence indicates otherwise
The reported clashes between factions of the Gulf Cartel (CDG) and Los Zetas Vieja Escuela, also revealed the possible expansion that the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) plans in its drug and fentanyl trafficking to the United States.
In late April, the Los Escorpiones faction of the CDG clashed with members of Los Zetas Vieja Escuela.
At first it was said that the organization of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, was involved in the bloody shootings that occurred in the municipality of Jiménez, this because modified vans with handmade armor appeared with the initials of the CJNG.
However, the head of the Tamaulipas Public Security Secretariat, Sergio Hernando Chávez García, denied that the CJNG was involved.
“At the moment we have no indication that the CJNG has a presence in the entity,” he commented at the time to a national media outlet and attributed the conflict to factions of the CDG.
“Those who were friends, today are enemies, the displaced seek to return to control their territory. They are Panthers against Scorpions, both factions of the Gulf Cartel, ”he pointed out.
When questioned that there were several vehicles with the initials of the CJNG, the security official replied that it was very likely that it was a simulation to make the authorities and the population believe that the Mencho structure is already in Tamaulipas.
“Possibly the objective of that was to pretend that there was reinforcement from these people from Jalisco, but without it having been verified that there is absolutely no element operating from that source,” the official explained at a press conference on May 3.
The statements made by the official contradict the reports of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of 2020, which mention that the CDG could have an alliance with the El Mencho organization.
The outlet listed a series of examples of what the agent narrated, such as the price of a kilo of methamphetamine, which at the beginning of this year was sold for around US$3,700 in McAllen, Texas, a city that borders Reynosa.
“A shipment of cocaine that size cost about $22,000. Today, that same kilo of methamphetamine is sold for only US$1,400, while a kilo of cocaine is around US$14,000,” the specialized site said.
Another key is the seizures of methamphetamine and cocaine made by agents of the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) in McAllen, which went from 42 kilos in the first quarter of 2022 to 127 kg in the same period this year.
While cocaine seizures went from 72 kilos to 228 kilos in the same period of time. “The seizures of both drugs in this corridor grew by more than 200% at the beginning of the year,” said InSightCrime, who reviewed official data and added that “the collapse in wholesale prices indicates a massive influx of these drugs” to the United States.
This means that Los Metros, an old faction of the CDG, who trafficked “modest” amounts of drugs to the US through this corridor, have an ally or a new competition, such as the CJNG, according to US agents consulted by the media.
According to the outlet, “information disclosed by confidential informants and other intelligence sources” indicates that the Mencho structure is taking control of the municipality of Reynosa, as the FIU has pointed out since 2020, although its main objective is Nuevo Laredo, with the purpose of having control of the main border crossing from Tamaulipas to Texas.
Source: Infobae
