How Mexico’s ‘CJNG’ drug cartel embraced AI, drones and social media

“El Mencho” is death.

This weekend, Mexican Army Special Forces killed Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Tapalpa, Jalisco. Mexico. Following confirmation of El Mencho’s death by federal authorities, experts expect a profound reconfiguration of the global drug-trafficking landscape, a scenario that could lead to a new and dangerous wave of violence.

The focus will turn to the CJNG’s mechanisms of control, intimidation, financing and recruitment that have given the cartel unprecedented operational capacity. Much of its power has come from undermining longtime rivals through the sophisticated use of social media and artificial intelligence, modern specialized weapons, and a flexible internal structure.

The US State Department say that CJNG maintains a presence and contacts in “almost all of Mexico,” the continental United States, and countries such as Australia, China and several Southeast Asian countries. The agency highlights the cartel’s criminal versatility: In addition to fentanyl trafficking, it is involved in extortion, migrant smuggling, oil and mineral theft and illegal arms trafficking.

How was the CJNG born?

The CJNG traces its roots to the Sinaloa Cartel, led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as “El Chapo”.” Around 2007, this group formed an armed wing in Jalisco under the command of Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villarreal. It was the Milenio Cartel, also known as Los Valencia. During this period, Guzmán’s agents sought control of Jalisco territories against Los Zetas, a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel.

In its early years, the CJNG introduced itself as “Los Mata Zetas” (The Zeta Killers). According to the BBCmade its first documented appearance in September 2011, when it claimed responsibility, through a video circulated on social media, for the discovery of 35 corpses in Boca del Río, a municipality in the state of Veracruz.

By then, the alliance with the Sinaloa cartel had already broken after a confrontation with federal forces that culminated in 2010 with the death of Ignacio Coronel. Leadership fell to Oseguera Cervantes, who led a rapid expansion in methamphetamine production and trafficking.

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In less than five years, the CJNG displaced the Templars from southern Michoacán and expelled the Zetas from northern Jalisco and parts of Zacatecas. After Guzmán Loera’s capture and extradition, the group strengthened its strategy by recruiting financial and chemical specialists to boost the production of synthetic drugs and diversify its income through money laundering schemes in sectors such as livestock, mining, agriculture and construction, as well as expanding extortion from small and medium-sized enterprises.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) notes that the CJNG operates in more than 40 countries and has a financial structure known as Los Cuinis, headed by Abigael González Valencia, Oseguera’s brother-in-law. This network coordinates money laundering operations through international trade, cryptocurrencies and links to Asian networks.

Several investigations have documented the use of digital tools for recruitment and fraud. In 2024, Interpol warned which involved groups such as the CJNG large-scale financial scams supported by AInatural language models and cryptocurrencies. It also has the expansion of human trafficking for forced criminal activities in scam.

A study by El Colegio de México, in collaboration with the Civic AI Lab at Northeastern University in Boston, revealed that TikTok is a recruitment tool for Mexican posters, including CJNG. The investigation identified 100 active accounts linked to illegal organizations and categorized their content as recruitment, border crossings, illegal businesses, prostitution, propaganda and arms sales. Forty-seven percent of the accounts promoted the recruitment of new members, and 31 percent distributed propaganda messages. The report highlighted that the CJNG was responsible for 54.3 percent of the detected accounts, followed by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Northeast Cartel.