Federal authorities have frozen 533 bank accounts linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Mexico’s most powerful criminal organization and the principal instigator of violence in the Bajío region.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) told the newspaper Milenio that there is no criminal organization with more accounts blocked than the CJNG.
Of the 533 frozen accounts, 125 with large balances contain a total of 109 million pesos (US $5.7 million), the UIF said.
Both federal and Guanajuato authorities have increased their focus on the CJNG as a result of the weakening of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, a fuel theft gang.
At least 10 high-ranking members of the former criminal group have recently been arrested in the Bajío region or killed in confrontations with authorities, Milenio said.
But the cartel’s suspected leader and Mexico’s most wanted criminal, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, Cervantes remains at large.
The CJNG is engaged in a turf war with the Santa Rosa cartel in Guanajuato but after a sustained attack by authorities on the latter, the Jalisco cartel’s criminal structure in the state is much stronger than that of its rival.
Like Oseguera, Santa Rosa cartel leader José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez is still on the run but he has no resources to fund his criminal activities, according to federal and Guanajuato authorities.
More than 60 people involved with the cartel have been arrested since authorities began an operation against it in March and several key members of the gang have deserted, leaving Yépez isolated and vulnerable.
Some Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel members have abandoned the fuel theft racket and now collect extortion payments in San Miguel de Allende, according to local business owners.
Despite authorities’ attacks on the finances and manpower of criminal groups operating in Guanajuato, and a significant reduction in fuel theft there, the state remains plagued by violence.
Authorities opened 1,383 homicide cases in Guanajuato in the first six months of 2019, more than any other state.
Source: Milenio (sp)
