How ‘El Señor Mencho’ rose to the top: America’s cocaine comeback and Mexico’s new cartel order

How ‘El Señor Mencho’ rose to the top: America’s cocaine comeback and Mexico’s new cartel order

As Washington intensified efforts to curb fentanyl, the Sinaloa cartel — long the dominant synthetic-opioid trafficker — came under heavy pressure. That spotlight, combined with infighting inside Sinaloa, opened space for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) to scale a more traditional business: cocaine. With prices falling and purity steady for US buyers, consumption rose, especially in the West, positioning CJNG to capitalize, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The ascent of ‘Mencho’ and CJNG

From a fortified base in the Sierra Madre, 59-year-old Oseguera consolidated CJNG into a transnational organization capable of challenging and displacing Sinaloa’s fractured network. US officials now describe him as the most powerful trafficker globally. CJNG’s logistics push multi-ton cocaine loads from Colombia via Ecuador up the Pacific — using speedboats and semi-submersible “narco subs” — into Mexico, then across the US border.

Market signals: cocaine up, fentanyl down

Drug-testing and public-health data cited in the report show cocaine consumption climbing since 2019 — up 154% in the western US, 19% in the East — while fentanyl use has ebbed from mid-2023 peaks. The shift has made cocaine relatively cheaper at retail in the US, with researchers noting nearly halved prices versus five years ago. For new users, cocaine lacks fentanyl’s lethal stigma, further widening demand.

Sinaloa’s fractures and CJNG’s leverage

Sinaloa’s turmoil accelerated after El Chapo’s capture and extradition, as his sons — the Chapitos — feuded with veteran cofounder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Arrests, plea deals, and internecine warfare weakened the cartel. In a landmark accommodation late last year, emissaries for Iván Archivaldo Guzmán met Oseguera: Sinaloa opened tunnels and routes; CJNG provided weapons, cash, and fighters. The practical split: Chapitos leaned into fentanyl; CJNG focused on cocaine and meth.

Policy ripple effects at the border

The administration’s immigration enforcement surge diverted personnel from some interdiction checkpoints, particularly in Arizona, thinning coverage along known smuggling corridors, according to the report’s sources. Meanwhile, US forces blew up suspected drug-laden boats in the Caribbean, as Mexico deployed special forces at sea. Despite tactical wins, the overall flow of cocaine — amid record Colombian production — has kept US street prices depressed.

A diversified criminal empire

CJNG’s cash flow extends beyond narcotics: protection rackets on everyday goods, control of construction contracts in captured municipalities, large-scale fuel theft and tax evasion, migrant tolls, and sprawling timeshare fraud call centres targeting US seniors. The cartel exerts quasi-governmental power across parts of Jalisco and beyond, blending coercion with patronage — fiestas, food, medicine — to cement local control.

Inside Mencho’s security state

Protected by an elite guard with anti-armour weapons, Oseguera rarely leaves his mountainous redoubt. Approach roads are laced with land mines known only to inner-circle handlers. Communications are tightly compartmented: lieutenants rotate through controlled phones, with weekly audits of call logs, then device swaps to foil tracing. A dedicated medical unit reportedly treats his chronic kidney disease, underscoring both his isolation and vulnerability.

The peril of being number one

CJNG’s rise has made Oseguera the prime target for US and Mexican authorities — a $15 million bounty hangs over him — and a focal point for rivals bruised by Sinaloa’s civil war. With tunnels, routes, and profits now intertwined across former red lines, the new underworld order is fragile. Intensified pressure, shifting US demand, and cartel politics could redraw alliances quickly — and violently — again.