Who Will Run 'el Mencho's' Cartel? It Could Be A Man Born In California

GUADALAJARA — The notorious supplier kingpin was sick, his kidneys failing.

To guarantee soft guidance of his multibillion-dollar cartel while he underwent dialysis, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known arsenic “El Mencho,” delegated day-to-day power to respective apical lieutenants.

Each managed a abstracted region, had his ain group of deed men and developed his ain fearsome reputation.

Mexican soldiers killed Oseguera connected Sunday successful a ambush connected his distant upland hideout. Immediately, his appointed commanders ordered a nationwide run of terror: cartel fighters carried retired arson attacks and blocked roads crossed much than a twelve states and ambushed information officers, sidesplitting 25 members of nan National Guard.

A autobus burned by cartel operatives aft nan sidesplitting of nan kingpin known arsenic “El Mencho.”

(Armando Solis / Associated Press)

The fires are now out, but cardinal questions remain.

What will hap to nan Jalisco New Generation cartel and its vulnerable conjugation of ruthless leaders?

Will they work together to stock power? Or elevate a azygous man arsenic caput honcho?

Many Mexicans fearfulness a troubling 3rd scenario: a bloody powerfulness struggle that fragments nan cartel, opening caller fronts of conflict successful an already volatile criminal landscape.

A photograph of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, center, known arsenic “El Mencho,” provided by national prosecutors.

(U.S. District Court)

“What comes adjacent will not lucifer a cleanable succession,” Ghaleb Krame Hilal, a erstwhile information advisor successful nan authorities of Tamaulipas, wrote successful nan online mag Small Wars Journal. “It will beryllium a struggle complete who holds nan halfway of gravity wrong nan organization, and that consequence is not preordained.”

The script is analyzable because Oseguera’s only son, Rubén Oseguera González, known arsenic “El Menchito,” is serving a life sentence connected supplier charges successful nan United States.

Juan Carlos Valencia González, seen successful a wanted photograph released by nan U.S. Department of State successful 2021. He is 1 of nan imaginable successors to “El Mencho” arsenic nan leader of nan Jalisco New Generation cartel.

(U.S. Department of State)

That leaves Oseguera’s cadre of location commanders arsenic nan astir apt inheritors of his supplier empire.

Perhaps nan astir powerful among them is Oseguera’s stepson, Juan Carlos Valencia González, known arsenic 03. Other monikers includ El Pelon, El JP and Tricky Tres.

Valencia, 41, is nan commandant of nan paramilitary Grupo Elite and belongs to a clan that runs nan cartel’s money-laundering operation.

His mother, Rosalinda González Valencia, was arrested successful Guadalajara successful November 2021 and accused by Mexican authorities of being a “financial operator” for nan Jalisco cartel. His biologic begetter was nan co-founder of nan now-defunct Milenio cartel, wherever Oseguera sewage his start.

Valencia was calved successful nan Orange County metropolis of Santa Ana, 1 of galore sons and daughters of high-ranking cartel figures calved successful nan United Sates successful caller decades. After Valencia’s begetter went to prison, Oseguera joined his mother.

The U.S. State Department is offering up to a $5-million reward for accusation starring to Valencia’s arrest.

A group of Jalisco New Generation cartel fighters.

(Juan José Estrada Serafín / For The Times)

Here are nan different contenders:

Ricardo Ruiz, othername RR, is known for producing slick cartel propaganda, including a viral societal media video that showed dozens of cartel fighters dressed successful fatigues alongside a file of armored vehicles and homemade tanks. “We are Mencho’s men!” they outcry while firing automatic weapons into nan sky.

Authorities blamed Ruiz for nan decease of Valeria Márquez, a 23-year-old exemplary and beauty influencer changeable to decease past twelvemonth while broadcasting unrecorded connected TikTok.

Audias Flores Silva, a leader wide known arsenic “El Jardinero,” controls methamphetamine factories successful Jalisco and Zacatecas states, according to nan Drug Enforcement Administration. He has a fleet of airplanes and tractor trailers utilized to postulation narcotics from Central America into nan United States, U.S. officials say.

Flores is believed to person engineered nan Jalisco cartel’s caller confederation pinch a faction of nan warring Sinaloa cartel, which is led by 2 sons of imprisoned supplier lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

And past location is 29-year-old Abraham Jesús Ambriz Cano, othername “El Yogurth.” Ambriz has built a mini service of foreign mercenaries, mostly erstwhile soldiers from Colombia who person acquisition successful bomb-making and counterinsurgency tactics. Some of those combatants opportunity they were lured to Mexico nether mendacious pretenses and forced to fight.

Together nan men thief lead 1 of nan astir powerfulness and feared cartels successful history — a criminal endeavor that traffics tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl to nan United States but which besides profits from extortion, substance theft, forbidden mining and logging and timeshare fraud wrong Mexico.

The avocado fields successful nan Mexican authorities of Michoacán, wherever nan Jalisco New Generation cartel and different criminal groups taxation producers and person their ain crops.

(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

Security analysts opportunity nan group’s horizontal, franchise-like building allowed it to technologist a accelerated consequence to Oseguera’s sidesplitting — and will let it to do business arsenic accustomed successful nan coming months.

Many judge nan remaining leaders of nan cartel will effort to activity together — for now.

“At nan infinitesimal they comprehend a immense communal enemy: nan authorities of Mexico,” said David Saucedo, who advises section and authorities governments connected information policy.

But, Saucedo cautioned, “it’s imaginable that nan cartel will fracture astatine immoderate constituent arsenic conflicts originate complete power of profits, trafficking routes and interaction pinch governmental officials.” Personal conflicts and nan encroachment of rival cartels could besides provoke problems, he added.

The soul workings of cartels are intentionally opaque to nan extracurricular world.

To understand shifts wrong nan gangs, analysts and officials way societal media communiques, changes to supplier flows and outbreaks of violence. Many support adjacent watch connected narco corridos, aliases supplier ballads, which chronicle cartel politics.

Saucedo noted that aggregate songs precocious person described Flores arsenic Oseguera’s successor. Another opus venerates Valencia (“He was calved successful Orange County, wherever nan sun burns differently,” it begins.)

It’s unclear if immoderate of nan existent leaders would person nan gravitas of Oseguera, who wielded unquestioned authority moreover arsenic his wellness deteriorated and he was forced to unrecorded connected nan run. That is successful portion because of his unflinching willingness to violently punish anyone who threatened aliases crossed him.

He was blamed for nan 2020 assassination effort of Omar García Harfuch, past nan constabulary main of Mexico City and now nan top nationalist information official nether President Claudia Sheinbaum. During a erstwhile authorities effort to seizure Oseguera, successful 2015, cartel fighters utilized rocket-propelled grenades to sprout down an service helicopter, sidesplitting 9 soldiers.

Last year, astatine a ranch adjacent Guadalajara apparently utilized to train Jalisco recruits, activists discovered nan remains of hundreds of missing people.

Born to farmers successful Michoacán state, Oseguera immigrated illegally nan United States successful his teens. He was first arrested astatine property 19 successful San Francisco for trading methamphetamine. His stature grew arsenic he roseate from small-time hoodlum to myth-shrouded kingpin of a seemingly invincible cartel that operates successful astir Mexican states and successful countries crossed South America, Asia and Europe.

Recent Mexican history is riddled pinch nan tales of once-powerful syndicates — gangs successful Guadalajara, Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, among them — that ruptured, were gobbled up by different mobs aliases petered retired arsenic nan large guys were captured aliases killed. Colombia’s storied Medellin cartel was different mob that withered aft Pablo Escobar met his demise successful 1993.

Linthicum reported successful New York, Hamilton successful Guadalajara and McDonnell successful Mexico City.