The New Generation May Be The Next Ruling Cartel In Mexico
The criminal underworld in Mexico is one of the most dangerous in the world. Criminal enterprises spanning beyond Mexico’s borders are overseen by outlaw cartels who use violence and intimidation to rule. Usually, names that come to mind when it comes to modern day cartels include the Knights Templar or the Zetas, but a new cartel is quickly surging to the top of the cartel order. This cartel is known as the New Generation of Jalisco.
Led by former police officer Nemesio Osegera Cervantes, a.k.a. “El Mencho,” the New Generation makes money by selling drugs and guns, stealing gasoline, kidnapping and extortion. According to the Washington Post, the cartel is “operating in several Mexican states and forging underworld ties around the globe.” Their reach is long because the group is comprised of former members of other cartels or militias. Earlier this week, New Generation goons armed with assault rifles and grenade launchers ambushed a convoy of police officers in Guadalajara, killing 15 and injuring five (that makes 21 police killed in Jalisco in the past three weeks). Now, Cervantes and other leadership figures in the New Generation was put on the drug kingpin list.
The police ambush is the latest in a string of cop hits that the New Generation has been attempting. Last week, another band of New Generation henchmen gunned at Jalisco state security commissioner, Alejandro Solorio in a highway ambush. They missed Solorio, but the police chief in the town of Zacoalco de Torres was not so lucky.
Law enforcement believes that the attacks on police are to avenge the slaying of New Generation leader Heriberto Acevedo Cardenas, a.k.a. “El Gringo,” last month. “It is spreading like a cancer in Mexico,” said former DEA agent Mike Vigil. “It’s the fastest expanding cartel and they could in the near future overtake the Sinaloa cartel as the most significant organized group in Mexico.”
For more from writer Ryan Smith, click here.
