The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Monday announced it made 670 arrests and seized large quantities of drugs, more than US $18 million in cash and 244 guns during a week-long surge aimed at dismantling the Mexico-based criminal organization known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
During the operation that ended on Sept. 26, DEA agents from 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign regions carried out coordinated actions that resulted in the seizure of 92.4 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 1.1 million counterfeit pills, 6,062 kilograms of methamphetamine, 22,842 kilograms of cocaine and 33 kilograms of heroin.
Overall, DEA agents seized nearly US $30 million in assets.
During her Tuesday morning press conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico did not cooperate with the DEA because “the operation was carried out there in the United States.”
In a press release announcing the results of the operation, the DEA described the CJNG as “a significant threat to public safety, public health and national security.”
“DEA is targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as what it is — a terrorist organization — at every level, from its leadership to its distribution networks and everyone in between,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole in the press release.
In February, the notorious cartel was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. government and, according to the press release, “it is responsible for flooding the United States with deadly fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin to fuel addiction, overdoses and violence in communities across the United States.”
The CJNG operates globally, with tens of thousands of members, associates and facilitators in at least 40 countries, according to the DEA.
In May, the U.S. government imposed economic sanctions and a financial crimes alert targeting the CJNG and its fuel theft network. In June, U.S. Treasury authorities applied sanctions to five leaders of the notorious crime gang.
In Monday’s press release, the DEA reaffirmed its commitment to taking down CJNG’s command, control and distribution networks and will continue to pursue CJNG co-founder and leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho.” He is on the DEA’s Most Wanted Fugitives list and the U.S. State Department has offered a US $15 million reward for his capture.
In June, DEA Agent Matthew W. Allen told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that members of the CJNG were monitoring DEA agents in the United States, while also tracking witnesses during the Washington, D.C., trial of Oseguera’s son, Rubén Oseguera González, “El Menchito.”
“El Menchito” was extradited from Mexico in 2020 and, on March 7, 2025, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for international drug trafficking and firearms offenses. He was also ordered to forfeit over US $6 billion of drug trafficking proceeds.
Additionally, Allen recounted the violence the CJNG routinely employs, including retaliation against family members of informants, while describing the threat the criminal group poses to U.S. citizens.
Last month, the DEA targeted the Sinaloa Cartel, which was also designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February.
In an operation taking place during the final week of August, agents seized 480 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 714,707 counterfeit pills, 2,209 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7,469 kilograms of cocaine and 55 kilograms of heroin.
On top of the drugs, agents seized more than US $11 million in cash, roughly US $1.7 million in assets and took 420 firearms off the street.
With reports from El País, El Financiero, N+ and La Jornada
