

Su nombre es más que conocido entre militares, policías y especialistas en seguridad, ya que desde 2015 es el hombre más buscado de México.

Se trata de Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, Nemesio Oseguera Ramos o Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, alias "El Mencho".

Las autoridades mexicanas lo consideran el líder del Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), uno de los grupos de narcotráfico más poderosos del país.

Y desde el miércoles, ofrecen una millonaria recompensa a quien brinde información útil para ubicar o detener "El Mencho".

La Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) prometió 30 millones de pesos mexicanos (unos $15 millones de dólares) para quien ayude a capturar al hombre que señala de delitos de delincuencia organizada y otros.

La recompensa supone un sustancial aumento de los "solo" 2 millones de pesos (unos US$100.000) que la PGR ofrecía por "El Mencho".

¿Quién es este hombre que ha hecho que las autoridades mexicanas eleven considerablemente los incentivos para atraparlo?

Quién es "El Mencho"

Hace unos años, Oseguera Cervantes era policía en el municipio de Tomatlán, en el sur de Jalisco.

Algunas versiones dicen que nació en Uruapan y otras en Aguililla, ambos en la zona conocida como Tierra Caliente de Michoacán.



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La PGR aumentó considerablemente la recompensa por el Mencho.



Se trata de una región con larga historia de narcotráfico, especialmente la siembra de marihuana y amapola.

Desde la década de los 90, se sumó también la producción de drogas sintéticas, a cargo del cartel conocido como Los Valencia o del Milenio.

La organización, una de las primeras en trabajar con esas sustancias, fue una de las más poderosas del país.

El Mencho se unió al cartel en esa época y, junto con su cuñado Abigael González Valencia, "El Cuini", heredó parte de su estructura a finales de la década pasada.

Para ese entonces, el grupo tenía una alianza con el Cartel de Sinaloa, que se dividió en 2010 tras la muerte de uno de sus fundadores, Ignacio Coronel, "El Nacho".

A partir de ese momento nació el CJNG. La carrera del Mencho se aceleró.

Carrera veloz

Ahora, el cartel es uno de los principales distribuidores de drogas sintéticas del continente, según el gobierno estadounidense.



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El Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación se dio a conocer por su violencia extrema.



En unos cuántos años, su grupo pasó de ser una banda local a las órdenes del Cártel de Sinaloa a una organización con presencia en 22 estados de México, de acuerdo a autoridades que cita el portal de información sobre seguridad en América Latina Insight Crime.

Es proveedor del mercado ilegal de anfetaminas en Estados Unidos y Europa, y se han detectado vínculos entre su banda y el mercado de drogas en Asia.

Las autoridades de Jalisco, su principal centro de operaciones, ven a su líder, el Mencho como un personaje de alto riesgo.

"Es el principal enemigo del Estado, lo consideramos extremadamente peligroso", señalaron fuentes del gobierno local a BBC Mundo en 2015.

Una muestra de su poder se dio en mayo de ese año, cuando sus guardaespaldas dispararon un cohete a un helicóptero militar que buscaba a su jefe.

La aeronave se desplomó. Era la primera vez que el ejército mexicano sufrió un ataque de este tipo.



BBC

Así quedó el helicóptero militar que atacó el Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación en 2015, para evitar que capturaran a su líder..



La ofensiva representó, también, una muestra de la capacidad de fuego y movilización del grupo construido por "El Mencho".

Empresario

Algunos especialistas dicen que Oseguera Cervantes creció a costa de "triturar" a sus grupos rivales.

Pero al mismo tiempo es un personaje con sentido empresarial que aprovechó las oportunidades del mercado, le dijo a BBC Mundo Alberto Islas, de la consultora de seguridad Risk Evaluation.

Hacia 2010, explicó, mudó la producción de metanfetaminas de Michoacán a Colima para alejarse de la zona controlada por el cartel de Los Caballeros Templarios.

Luego se benefició del repunte en el consumo de heroína en Estados Unidos, al comercializar cosechas de amapola de Guerrero o Michoacán.

También aprovechó el auge económico en la ganadería, agricultura y construcción de Jalisco, que le dio la facilidad de lavar activos.

Fuentes del gobierno de Jalisco aseguraron que Oseguera Cervantes ha llegado a controlar el ingreso de precursores o sustancias iniciales para elaborar drogas sintéticas en los puertos de Manzanillo, en Colima, y Lázaro Cárdenas, en Michoacán, ambos en la costa oeste de México.

Violencia

El encumbramiento del Mencho no se debió sólo a su habilidad en los negocios.

Un análisis de Insight Crime, actualizado en marzo de 2018, señala que desde su nacimiento "el grupo ha estado asociado con el uso de violencia extrema".



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El CJNG ha asesinado a decenas de funcionarios y policías como represalia por el intento de capturar a sus miembros.



De hecho, la organización se dio a conocer en 2011 con el asesinato de 35 personas en Boca del Río, Veracruz.

La masacre fue ordenada por Oseguera Cervantes como una advertencia al cartel de Los Zetas.

El CJNG también ha asesinado a decenas de funcionarios y policías de Jalisco como represalia por la captura de miembros del grupo o para atemorizar a quienes persiguen al Mencho.

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</s>'El Mencho,' wanted in Mexico and the US.

The governments of Mexico and the United States have raised the rewards offered for the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.

Mexico is offering 30 million pesos (about US $1.6 million) for any information that leads to Oseguera’s arrest, while the United States is offering up to $5 million, Mexican authorities told the newspaper El Financiero.

The rewards are part of a series of actions aimed at securing Oseguera’s arrest and part of a broader binational crackdown on violence and strengthened security on both sides of the border.

A binational security team met yesterday in Illinois and the full extent of the agreements reached are to be announced later today.

Acting Attorney General Alberto Elías Beltrán led the Mexican team, joined by high-ranking officials from the Mexican army and navy.

Oseguera, also known as “El Mencho,” is considered to be the principal instigator of violence in Mexico. The drug lord has been behind the expansion of the CJNG over the last three years, putting the organization in direct confrontation with rival gangs throughout the country, sparking violent turf wars for the control of territory.

The cartel’s confrontations with security forces from the three levels of government have also cost the lives of many officials.

Anyone with information about Oseugera can call (55) 5346 3867 and (55) 5346 0000, extension 3825, in Mexico City, while elsewhere in the country the toll-free number is 01 800 831 3196.

Information can also be provided by email to denunciapgr@pgr.gob.mx.</s>Mexican authorities announced they have raised the bounty on one of the country’s most prominent cartel kingpins, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”.

The announcement came at a joint press conference in Chicago, where officials from the Mexican government and representatives from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency unveiled new plans to combat Mexican drug cartels.

Underlings of “El Mencho” have deployed waves of violence to thwart attempts at detaining him. Officials announced they are offering 30 million pesos, which amounts to 1.56 million dollars, for information on Oseguera, the leader of the power Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which makes, moves, and deals large amounts of met amphetamines and has expanded its control over the Mexican West.

Oseguera Cervantes’ wife was arrested in late May in suburban Guadalajara.

The DEA’s director for North and Central American Region, Matthew G. Donahue, also shared the agency’s new plan in coordination with Mexican authorities.

“The new game plan is… pick up the speed and arrest more people, faster,” he told AP ahead of the press conference.

Newspaper The Guardian reports that the new strategy also includes closer scrutiny on cartel finances and a new enforcement group, which will focus on international investigations.</s>MEXICO CITY: Mexico is offering a 30 million pesos (£1.2 million) reward for information leading to the arrest of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera whose cartel is blamed for driving heroin shipments to the United States, the attorney general said on Wednesday.

Known as "El Mencho," Oseguera has risen to become Mexico's most-wanted drug lord after Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was extradited to the United States last year to face trial.

In March, U.S. agents in Chicago named El Mencho public enemy No. 1 and blamed his gang for using "extreme violence" to expand their share of the heroin trade. The United States is offering US$5 million (£3.9 million) for information leading to his capture.

Oseguera's Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion is considered by authorities to be the most powerful Mexican drug cartel, with operations in the United States, Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia.

The Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion "is known to produce multi-hundred kilogram quantities of methamphetamine and heroin, and traffics in multi-ton quantities of cocaine," according to the U.S. Department of State.

Mexico arrested Oseguera's wife in May on charges of laundering funds for his cartel.</s>"The Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) offers 30 million pesos to anyone who provides accurate and useful information for the location and arrest or apprehension of Ruben Oseguera Cervantes and/or Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and/or Nemesio Oseguera Ramos, Alias 'El Mencho,' suspected of organized crimes and other offenses," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Attack on the helicopter was committed during a large-scale operation of the authorities against the cartel.

In response, the bandits not only shot down the helicopter, but also arranged riots in the streets of Mexico's second-largest city of Guadalajara, burned dozens of cars and gas stations and destroyed bank branches.

Also, a popular 17-year-old blogger, nicknamed Pirate from Culiacan, was allegedly shot after an offensive remark of a sexual nature toward El Mencho.

Since 2006, over 200,000 people have been killed or disappeared in Mexico amid the ongoing war between country’s drug cartels.</s>Mexican authorities have raised the bounty on one of the country’s most bloodthirsty cartel kingpins – Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho” – whose underlings have deployed waves of violence to thwart attempts at detaining him.

Officials announced on Wednesday that they are offering 30m pesos ($1.56m) for information on Oseguera, leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG,) which deals heavily in making and moving methamphetamines, and has expanded its reach across Mexico as rival criminal groups splinter.

The announcement came as the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Mexican officials prepared to unveil plans to deepen cooperation against the cartels. The new strategy includes closer scrutiny on cartel finances and a new enforcement group, which will focus on international investigations.

“The new game plan is ... pick up the speed and arrest more people,

faster,” Matthew G Donahue, director for the DEA’s North and Central American Region, told the AP.

Oseguera is one of the most powerful figures still on the loose, having eluded capture for nearly a decade. The CJNG has launched coordinated shows of strength across western Jalisco state by blocking roads with hijacked vehicles as federal forces close in on its leader.



His wife, Rosalinda González Valencia – who is accused of overseeing the cartel’s finances – was arrested in late May in suburban Guadalajara.

The CJNG emerged in 2010 after a prominent Sinaloa Cartel boss, Nacho Coronel, was killed by federal forces and Oseguera won the ensuing power struggle.

The cartel has earned notoriety for its violence and its willingness to confront state forces in open battle: CJNG gunmen are accused of ambushing a police convoy in an attack which killed 15 officers. They later shot down an army helicopter.

Analysts say the cartel has disputed territories previously controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, whose leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was captured in 2016 and extradited to the United States the following year.

But recently the CJNG has itself reportedly split, leading to more fighting between former allies.

More than 200,000 have been killed and 30,000 have gone missing in Mexico’s militarized war on drugs which was launched in December 2006. Violence reached record levels in 2017 with 29,168 homicides registered.

President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to rethink the country’s anti-narcotics strategy by offering amnesties to low-level figures forced into the illegal drugs business and tackling what he considers the root causes of crime: poverty and corruption.

His nominee for public security secretary, Alfonso Durazo, has promised to discard the the so-called “kingpin strategy” of capturing or killing senior cartel figures, telling Mexican media Wednesday: “It hasn’t produced the best results.”

Critics of the strategy say that it only create more violence as new crime bosses emerge and fight for the spoils of the drug market.

“Of 122 prime targets, 120 have been detained. Insecurity has increased, however,” Durazo said. “For us it is much more important to pursue narcotics traffickers’ money rather than narcotics traffickers themselves, because what gives narcos their operational ability … are resources to corrupt and operate.”

But Donahue defended the kingpin strategy, saying authorites in the two countries will “always go after the top dog” in a cartel and “always go after the entire organization”.</s>CHICAGO -- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials unveiled new strategies in combating Mexican drug cartels Wednesday in Chicago alongside members of the Mexican government, military and federal police, who said one priority was to capture the leader of the increasingly powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

A joint news conference with the officials side by side was a display of bilateral cooperation amid ongoing tensions over President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies, including over his vow to build a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border.

The new plans include putting greater emphasis on attacking cartels' financial infrastructure and calling for a new enforcement group based in Chicago that will concentrate on international investigations of cartels.

The targeting of cartel drug lords will remain a core component of bids to disrupt the powerful syndicates, for instance. The biggest trophy in the long-standing kingpin strategy was Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, extradited to New York in 2017 to face U.S. trafficking charges.

Among the cartels cutting into Sinaloa's drug-market share is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho." The cartel once shot down a Mexican military helicopter with a rocket launcher.

Last year, a DEA drug-threat report called the Jalisco New Generation Cartel "one of the most powerful and fastest growing [cartels] in Mexico and the United States." It said the cartel's primary product is methamphetamine, with main U.S. distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta.

At Wednesday's news conference, Felipe De Jesus Munoz Vazquez, a Mexico's deputy attorney general, said "one priority is the capture of the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel." Also Wednesday, officials in Mexico announced a $1.6 million reward for the capture of Cervantes.

Matthew Donahue, director for the DEA's North and Central American Region, said Tuesday that the U.S. wants to rely more on recent changes in the Mexican legal system designed to make evidence gathering and prosecutions more efficient.

"That's what we're really trying to push -- the cooperation that we currently have with Mexico to be a little more efficient, a little bit more aggressive," Donahue said.

In turn, he said the U.S. intends to do more to help stem the flow of guns into Mexico that contributes to deadly violence in the country. Donahue said around 31,000 people were killed in Mexico last year, a record for a single year.

A 2018 report by the University of San Diego's Justice in Mexico said Guzman's takedown "dramatically reshaped the landscape of Mexican organized crime," including by clearing the way for the rise of the Jalisco cartel. It added the cartel's 52-year-old leader "has a reputation as a ruthless killer." He migrated to the U.S. in the 1980s and was deported back to Mexico after a trafficking conviction.

The same report urged policymakers not to rely as much on a strategy of going after kingpins and extraditing them to the U.S., saying it often had a "hydra-effect," in which a new series of drug lords emerge and without reducing the overall menace of cartels.

Information for this article was contributed by Peter Orsi of The Associated Press.</s>CHICAGO — Top U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials will unveil new plans to combat Mexican drug cartels Wednesday in Chicago alongside members of the Mexican government and federal police, DEA officials told The Associated Press.

The announcement at a joint news conference will be a public display of bilateral cooperation amid ongoing tensions over President Donald Trump’s trade and immigration policies, including over his vow to build a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border.

The new plans include putting greater emphasis on attacking cartels’ financial infrastructure. Plans also call for a new enforcement group based in Chicago that will concentrate on international investigations of cartels.

Matthew G. Donahue, director for the DEA’s North and Central American Region, told the AP on Tuesday that the U.S. wants to rely more on changes in the Mexican legal system in recent years designed to make evidence gathering and prosecutions more efficient.

“The new game plan is … pick up the speed and arrest more people, faster,” Donahue said. “That’s what we’re really trying to push — the cooperation that we currently have with Mexico to be a little more efficient, a little bit more aggressive.”

He said the U.S. also intends to do more to help stem the flow of guns into Mexico that contributes to deadly violence in the country. Donahue said around 31,000 people were killed in Mexico last year, a new record for a single year.

The DEA didn’t immediately name the Mexican officials who will attend the event in Chicago.

Donahue said the targeting of top cartel brass will remain a core component of bids to disrupt the powerful syndicates. The biggest trophy in this long-standing kingpin strategy was Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, extradited to New York in 2017 to face U.S. trafficking charges.

Sinaloa has dominated the drug supply to many U.S. cities, though the takedown of Guzman lessened its influence. Among up-and-coming cartels cutting into Sinaloa drug-market share is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho.”

Last year, a DEA drug-threat report called the Jalisco New Generation Cartel “one of the most powerful and fastest growing in Mexico and the United States.” It said the cartel’s primary product is methamphetamine, with main U.S. distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta.

A 2018 report by the University of San Diego’s Justice in Mexico said Guzman’s takedown “dramatically reshaped the landscape of Mexican organized crime,” including by clearing the way for Cervantes and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to expand.

The same report urged policymakers not to rely as much on a strategy of going after kingpins and extraditing them to the U.S., saying it often had a “hydra-effect,” in which a new series of drug lords emerge and without reducing the overall menace of cartels.

Donahue defended the strategy to date, saying the U.S. and Mexico will “always go after the top dog” in a cartel and “always go after the entire organization.”

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.</s>Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman arrives in New York after his extradition from Mexico, January 19, 2017. Thomson Reuters

CHICAGO (AP) — Top US Drug Enforcement Administration officials will unveil new plans to combat Mexican drug cartels Wednesday in Chicago alongside members of the Mexican government and federal police, DEA officials told The Associated Press.

The announcement at a joint news conference will be a public display of bilateral cooperation amid ongoing tensions over President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies, including over his vow to build a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile US-Mexican border.

The new plans include putting greater emphasis on attacking cartels' financial infrastructure. Plans also call for a new enforcement group based in Chicago that will concentrate on international investigations of cartels.

Matthew G. Donahue, director for the DEA's North and Central American Region, told the AP on Tuesday that the US wants to rely more on changes in the Mexican legal system in recent years designed to make evidence gathering and prosecutions more efficient.

Municipal police stand guard on the beach in front of the Blue Parrot club, a day after a deadly early-morning shooting there, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, January 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

"The new game plan is ... pick up the speed and arrest more people, faster," Donahue said. "That's what we're really trying to push — the cooperation that we currently have with Mexico to be a little more efficient, a little bit more aggressive."

He said the U.S. also intends to do more to help stem the flow of guns into Mexico that contributes to deadly violence in the country. Donahue said around 31,000 people were killed in Mexico last year, a new record for a single year.

The DEA didn't immediately name the Mexican officials who will attend the event in Chicago.

Donahue said the targeting of top cartel brass will remain a core component of bids to disrupt the powerful syndicates. The biggest trophy in this long-standing kingpin strategy was Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, extradited to New York in 2017 to face US trafficking charges.

Sinaloa has dominated the drug supply to many US cities, though the takedown of Guzman lessened its influence. Among up-and-coming cartels cutting into Sinaloa drug-market share is the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG, led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho."

Police officers, members of a team known as "Condores," stand by the door of the helicopter during a patrol of the city, part of a new strategy to combat the crime in Mexico City, August 3, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

Last year, a DEA drug-threat report called CJNG "one of the most powerful and fastest growing in Mexico and the United States." It said the cartel's primary product is methamphetamine, with main US distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta.

A 2018 report by the University of San Diego's Justice in Mexico said Guzman's takedown "dramatically reshaped the landscape of Mexican organized crime," including by clearing the way for Cervantes and the CJNG to expand.

The same report urged policymakers not to rely as much on a strategy of going after kingpins and extraditing them to the US, saying it often had a "hydra-effect," in which a new series of drug lords emerge and without reducing the overall menace of cartels.

Donahue defended the strategy to date, saying the US and Mexico will "always go after the top dog" in a cartel and "always go after the entire organization."</s>U.S. and Mexican officials are putting a new multi-million dollar bounty on the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel or CJNG, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho."The CJNG is a violent criminal organization that grew in power in the wake of the 2016 arrest of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. "Unfortunately our country is now faced with a new menace," said DEA Regional Director North and Central Americas Region Matthew G. Donahue. Donahue called the CJNG a "rapidly expanding brand" in Chicago and worldwide; a Mafia-style organization based on bloodshed and violence.In a downtown press conference Wednesday, top-ranking Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials announced that they are teaming up in a new Chicago-based law enforcement group that will target top cartel drug criminals. DEA Chicago Special Agent in Charge Brian M. McKnight said the new Chicago based group will work with Mexican law enforcement on "high value targets" in an effort to stop the flow of illicit drugs from Mexican cartels into the city. The DEA says law enforcement in Chicago has seized 300 kilos of heroin and illicit fentanyl and $20 million of drug money so far this year. "Today, we begin innovative action plans to solve this problem," said McKnight. In addition to teaming up on cartel leaders in Mexico, McKnight says a new Chicago-based, DEA-led drug taskforce made up of federal agencies, the Chicago Police Department and the Illinois State Police will target "local gangs that are involved in drug distribution in the hotspot areas throughout the city of Chicago." "To be crystal clear, the drugs are being manufactured in Mexico and the Mexican cartels control the routes into the United States for distribution," said McKnight. In March, the I-Team first reported that the leader of CJNG, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho" is the Chicago DEA's new "most wanted" drug criminal. DEA officials say the CJNG has now established a stronghold in Chicago. Osgeuera Cervantes is already under indictment in Washington D.C. and believed to be directing his cartel from a Mexican mountain hideout.Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson was appreciative of the new collaborative cross-border effort, saying, "we can't do it alone at CPD. "It's not just a Chicago problem," said Superintendent Johnson, "it's an international problem."
The Mexican government announces that they are offering up to MXN$30 million (equivalent to US$1.56 million) for anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (alias "El Mencho"), the suspected leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and one of Mexico's most-wanted.