El Mencho’s US-born stepson emerges to lead one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels: Report
A California-born U.S. citizen whose mother is reportedly involved in a drug and money laundering cartel has reportedly taken control of Mexico’s most dangerous cartel.
Juan Carlos Valencia González, 41, a dual U.S. and Mexican citizen, assumed leadership of the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) after a Mexican special forces raid killed the cartel’s former boss, El Mencho, last month. The raid, aided by U.S. intelligence, marked the most direct coordinated action against cartels in years.
CJNG, built into a global trafficking network by Ruben Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” operates from Jalisco to markets from China to North Africa, smuggling drugs into the U.S.
After Mexican forces killed cartel boss El Mencho in February, violence erupted in Jalisco and nearby states as CJNG members and allied gunmen set up road blockades, burned vehicles and businesses, and clashed with security forces in Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Michoacán, resulting in dozens of deaths.
Authorities expanded military and National Guard deployments to restore order, while travel advisories were issued and public alarm rose amid concerns over a power vacuum within the cartel.
With El Mencho dead and his son serving a life sentence in the U.S., leadership has reportedly passed to his stepson, Valencia González.
