DEA targets CJNG operations, seizes counterfeit pills, cocaine, and meth in weeklong surge
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Drug Enforcement Administration announced Monday the results of a week-long operational surge aimed at dismantling the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the world’s most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations.
Designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February by the Trump administration, CJNG is described as a significant threat to public safety, health and national security. The cartel is responsible for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin into the United States, fueling overdoses, addiction and violence nationwide.
“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. “Let this serve as a warning: DEA will not relent. Working side by side with our state, local, tribal, and federal partners, and through the Homeland Security Task Force, DEA is committed to these partnerships to take the fight directly to designated terrorist organizations. Every arrest, every seizure, and every dollar stripped from CJNG represents lives saved and communities protected. This focused operation is only the beginning — we will carry this fight forward together until this threat is defeated.”
From September 22 through September 26, DEA agents across 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign regions carried out coordinated enforcement actions that resulted in:
- Arrests: 670
- Drug seizures: 92.4 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 1,157,672 counterfeit pills, 6,062 kilograms of methamphetamine, 22,842 kilograms of cocaine and 33 kilograms of heroin
- Currency seizures: $18,644,105
- Assets seized: $29,694,429
- Firearms seized: 244
CJNG operates globally with tens of thousands of members, associates and facilitators in at least 40 countries. The cartel is linked to the production and distribution of synthetic drugs, and to violence and corruption tied to those operations.
The DEA reaffirmed its commitment to dismantling CJNG’s networks and pursuing its co-founder and leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho. He remains one of the agency’s most wanted fugitives and is the subject of a $15 million reward through the U.S. Department of State Narcotics Rewards Program.
DEA officials emphasized the effort is part of a broader whole-of-government approach to dismantle transnational criminal organizations. Working with the Homeland Security Task Force and other federal partners, the agency said future operations will continue to align with U.S. efforts to combat terrorist-designated cartels and organized crime.
