The United States Government identified the American Juan Carlos Valencia González, alias “El 03”, as the new leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an organization considered one of the most powerful and violent in Mexico and identified as one of the main responsible for the trafficking of fentanyl and other drugs into United States territory.
According to the most recent update from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC, in English), an entity attached to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, Valencia González, also known by the aliases of “Pelon”, “El R-3”, “El JP”, “Tricky” and “Tres”, assumed leadership of the cartel after the death of his stepfather, Rubén Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, founder of the criminal organization.
According to official US information, Oseguera Cervantes died in February 2026 during an anti-drug operation coordinated by Mexican security forces in Tapalpa, Jalisco. From then on, the leadership of the CJNG passed into the hands of Valencia González.
US authorities maintain a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to the location and capture of Valencia González, who was born in Santa Ana, California, and has US nationality.
New command structure
The report notes that the CJNG retains a hierarchical structure in which regional leaders manage daily operations under the senior leader.
In that structure, Juan Carlos Valencia González has the support of two of the group’s main operators: Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez, alias “El Chorro”, identified as the son-in-law of Oseguera Cervantes and one of the main lieutenants of the organization, and Hugo Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán, alias “El Sapo”, also considered one of the most trusted commanders.
Another high-ranking member is Audias Flores Silva, alias “El Jardinero”, who was captured by Mexican authorities on April 27, 2026.
International presence
The State Department describes the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a transnational criminal organization that emerged in 2010 from remnants of the Milenio Cartel, a former faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Since 2018, the group accelerated its territorial expansion and, by 2026, it is considered by US authorities to be the main competitor of the Sinaloa Cartel for control of drug trafficking in Mexico.
The CJNG maintains a presence throughout Mexican territory and exercises particularly strong control in the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima, Veracruz, Guanajuato, Puebla, Querétaro and Hidalgo.
The authorities estimate that the organization has between 15,000 and 20,000 members.
Expansion model
The US report indicates that the CJNG uses a franchise model through alliances with local criminal groups to expand its presence outside its main strongholds.
This system has allowed it to extend its operations to various countries in America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania.
In addition to international drug trafficking, the organization obtains income through activities such as extortion, kidnapping, fuel theft, illegal logging, illegal mining, migrant smuggling, and timeshare fraud.
One of the cartel’s main strategic assets is de facto control of the Mexican port of Manzanillo, Colima, considered a key route for the entry of chemical precursors used in the clandestine manufacture of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Violence as a control mechanism
The US Government attributes to the CJNG the systematic use of extreme violence to maintain territorial control, intimidate the population and confront both rival organizations and the Mexican security forces.
Among the documented practices are public executions, forced disappearances, kidnappings and attacks against officials, judges, police and politicians.
The report also maintains that the organization uses bribery and coercion of officials at different levels to facilitate its operations and reduce the risk of arrests.
Among the episodes cited by US authorities is the discovery, in March 2025, of human remains of hundreds of alleged cartel recruits in a training center known as Rancho Izaguirre, in Jalisco.
terrorist organization
In February 2025, the State Department designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist entity.
Later, in June of the same year, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against Rubén Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, then leader of the cartel; Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez; Audias Flores Silva; Hugo Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán and an operator linked to the organization’s propaganda.
The CJNG had already been sanctioned in 2015, along with its financial arm Los Cuinis, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Law, and again in 2021 in accordance with Executive Order 14059.
Main attacks attributed to the CJNG
The US Government file includes several of the most violent attacks attributed to the criminal organization in recent years.
Among them is the murder of Iván Morales Corrales, which occurred on April 30, 2025 in Temixco, Morelos. Morales had testified in the United States against Rubén Oseguera González, alias “El Menchito.”
Also mentioned is the attack against Omar García Harfuch, then Secretary of Citizen Security of Mexico City, perpetrated on June 26, 2020, in which two bodyguards and a civilian died.
Another of the documented events is the murder of federal judge Uriel Villegas Ortiz and his wife, Verónica Barajas, which occurred on June 17, 2020 in Colima.
Likewise, the report recalls the downing of a Mexican military helicopter on May 1, 2015 using a rocket-propelled grenade, an attack that left nine soldiers dead.
Five days earlier, on April 6 of the same year, members of the CJNG ambushed and murdered 15 police officers in Jalisco, one of the deadliest attacks against Mexican security forces.
Finally, the US authorities include among the organization’s antecedents the murder of 35 members of the rival group Los Zetas, whose bodies were abandoned on a highway in Veracruz on September 20, 2011, during a dispute over territorial control.
Reward
Valencia González is listed in the United States Drug Trafficking Rewards Program as one of the alleged ringleaders of the CJNG. Valencia González is the son of Rosalinda González Valencia, wife of “El Mencho”,
According to a DEA investigation, Valencia González would have been responsible for the manufacture, transportation and distribution of tons of drugs, in addition to the organization of numerous violent events.
On July 20, 2020, during a conference by then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Secretary of Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval González, identified Juan Carlos González, alias “El R-3”, as one of the leaders of the Elite Group, the armed wing of the CJNG.
Valencia González was indicted on October 8, 2020 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States, as well as use of a firearm during a narcotics transaction.
The State Department is offering a reward of up to US$5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction, and asks to contact the DEA at +1-213-237-9990 or MENCHOTIPS@dea.gov.
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