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. 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. “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. 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. 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.
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.