Los Cuinis-CJNG: Worlds Most Wealthy Drug Trafficking Organization

Lucio R. Borderland Beat translated and republished from Proceso 

Note: following the Proceso article is the full DEA press release about Los  Cuinis and CJNG.

According to Proceso, for the US government there is no doubt that Los Cuinis cartel is the Mexican drug trafficking organization with the most  economic power in the world,  well above the Sinaloa Cartel.

"I know it sounds unbelievable, but Los Cuinis are the world's richest drug traffickers," says a senior official of the US Drug Administration (DEA), who requested anonymity to speak about a subject whose investigation is ongoing in Mexico and the United States.

"Moreover," he adds, "I can tell you that last February 28th,  Mexican authorities unwittingly arrested the world's richest narco".  he was referring to  Abigael González Valencia, El Cuini.

The trafficker was arrested  in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, by a joint operation of the Navy, Federal Police and the Attorney General's Office.

US authorities accept that it is impossible to determine the amount of profits accumulated by Los Cuinis and its leader, but says  that it is in the billions of dollars annually.

“Officials” from various branches of the national security of the United States, confirm that  Los  Cuinis far exceeds the Sinaloa Cartel in net profits for the international traffic of narcotics.

Los Cuinis, an organization founded by El Cuini, "is the almost absolute master of the European and Asian drug market," this according to analysis and intelligence investigations of several US federal agencies, which placed this criminal group as an "associate “of Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), identifying them as one and the same mafia. (Cuinis from the word cuñado, or brother-in-law)

"The Cuini and siblings (five) are richer because they are drug dealers who sell more cocaine and methamphetamine in Europe and European authorities have failed to confiscate almost no money or drugs. Meaning, their (bottom line) profits could be close to one hundred percent," says DEA official. 

Alternative Markets

Abigael González Valencia is unique.  

"He is a shrewd drug dealer. With CJNG (Mencho) he designed a strategy different from traditional drug trafficking, for example the Sinaloa Cartel, explains one of the officials consulted and who, like his colleague from the DEA and the others interviewed, asked that his identity not be disclosed or the federal agency to which he belongs.

"The Cuini focused on  partnering with drug traffickers and narco-insurgents of Colombia and other South American countries to sell cocaine and other drugs in Europe, without being involved with  the market of the United States. That made a big difference in terms of profits earned, "said the official.

According to official documents reviewed by Proceso for this report, Los Cuinis and CJNG for almost a decade chose not to mess with the US market.

In the midst of the war unleashed drug by Felipe Calderón, El Cuini and his brother-in-law  Nemesio Oseguera Cárdenas, “El Mencho,” (leader CJNG), allied with South American drug traffickers to get cocaine in bulk for Europe markets, while the Sinaloa cartel, the Juárez and Gulf and Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacana and others fought with blood and fire for  routes into the United States.

"El Cuini” and “El Mencho”, understood that there was much more risk of loss, in every way, if attempting to compete with other cartels for the US market," said another of the officials interviewed.

Yet the DEA does not refute its position that the Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful Mexican criminal organization and most feared on the planet: The Cuinis are wealthier because they did not compete with El Mayo Zambada or with El Chapo Guzman for the US market and they  crossed arms from Europe and Asia.

"The Sinaloa Cartel is the one that dominates the US market and is the majority owner of the plaza and drug trafficking corridors of Mexico. It is also has  the most power of intimidation by its  army of assassins, along with its sophisticated and modern arsenal and its broad arm of corruption, "says DEA official.

The Cuinis, unlike any other Mexican cartel and according to official US documents about the organization", do not use violence thereby avoiding attention and are almost impenetrable in its command structure" .

"It's very difficult to infiltrate the command of Los Cuinis,  they are very guarded and extremely careful," accepts the DEA official.

Washington describes  Los Cuinis and CJNG as two organizations that are a "family empire”  and owners of countless businesses created exclusively to launder money. "Its main investments are concentrated in the real estate sector."

Other officials interviewed, who has devoted many years of his career to investigate and characterize Los Cuinis and CJNG: 

"They are the major methamphetamine trafficking organizations in Canada and Europe, the biggest traffickers of chemical precursors Asia and Europe to Mexico and possibly the best positioned for cocaine trafficking worldwide ".

The DEA emphasizes that "it’s the  cartel of Mexico who is better connected abroad" And has an association with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and therefore "is the number one supplier of cocaine to Mexico, from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru".

As an example, the DEA agent reminds the reporter that;  "a few years ago, Japan confiscated from the organization led by El Cuini,  the largest amount of methamphetamine ever recorded in Asia: more than 200 kilograms." (441 lbs)

Another idiosyncrasy of El Cuini "is that he is very attached to the family," according to the research findings of the US government.

The top leadership of Los Cuinis and CJNG is formed by blood.   Abigael and five of his brothers command the criminal group; Additionally, El Cuini’s sister is the wife of El Mencho.

TODAY THEY OCCUPY OVER HALF

Extraditable

Abigael González Valencia was arrested on May 2, 1996 in the San Diego, California. He was charged with six counts related to the manufacture of narcotics (methamphetamine) and conspiracy to distribute.

The court case number 1: 96-cr-05113-AWI-6, dated May 9, 1996 and filed with the Federal Court for the Eastern District of California, indicates that on November 22nd of that year, El Cuini was released after posting 80,000 dollar bail.

He was ordered to appear in court on April 28, 1997.

He skipped bail and fled south of the border.

"Once released, El Cuini returned to Mexico," admits the DEA official.

Since then he is a fugitive from US justice, therefore, now under the custody of the Mexican government, his extradition would be a mere bureaucratic procedure.

Cuini bought the Zeta Horses 

Among the documents of the US government on El Cuini remarkable a fact.

Jose Trevino Morales, brother of the leaders of Los Zetas (Michelangelo, Z-40, and Omar, Z-42), was arrested by the FBI on June 12, 2012 in Lexington, Oklahoma, accused of being the head of a network laundering drug money through  breeding racehorses.

In November 2012 the US government auctioned over 300 horses confiscated from Treviño Morales in Oklahoma; the finest and  the most expensive  was the quarter mile Dash of Sweet Heat, which sold at $1 million.  (at left)

(Lucio: Records contradict this claim, at least for the purchase of Sweet Heat.  The horse was sold for 1 Million  to Juliana Holts.  She and her husband are majority owners of the San Antonio Spurs)

"Several of the finest horses they took from Jose Trevino and were auctioned, and were purchased for El Cuini through intermediaries" reveals the DEA official.

"Some of these horses are now running in the Santa Anita Racetrack in San Jose, California (actually it is in Southern California in the city Arcadia)," the official, who refused to give more details about it because that information is integrated in an ongoing investigation and according to him, will soon come to an end.

Blacklisted

Along with the Mencho, El Cuini in recent years traveled frequently to Europe, especially to Holland, Spain, Germany, France and Belgium. "In Las Ramblas they own businesses, therefore would visit often." said one of the US officials.

None of the interviewees dare to make an estimate of fortune of el Cuini, the siblings or El Mencho.

But agree they are considered "the richest of Mexico drug traffickers."

On Wednesday the 8th, the Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury of the United States, announced the names organizations of the most significant drug as Los Cuinis and CJNG and the Obama administration subjected them to financial penalties, as set out in the Kingpin Act.

El Cuini and El Mencho joined the list of the most significant drug traffickers to the United States, so the Treasury Department ordered the confiscation of their goods and the freezing of bank accounts they had in the United States or in places under the jurisdiction of same.

John E. Smith, Acting Director of OFAC, explained that lately in Mexico is a "trend of erosion" between traditional cartels, with the emergence of new organizations such as Los Cuinis and CJNG.

"These two organizations have rapidly expanded their criminal empire through the use of violence and corruption. Are now placed among the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico", concluded Smith to the media.

The calculation of the OFAC is that it was about five years ago the CJNG rose from the ashes of what was Milenio Cartel.  However, officials interviewed by this correspondent, and particularly the DEA rejected that theory and show that Los Cuinis and CJNG, appeared almost immediately after El Cuini returned to Jalisco after fleeing California in 1997.

El Mencho was arrested in the US in 1994 and later sentenced to three years in prison.

The leader of CJNG was convicted for crimes of conspiracy to distribute heroin. After serving his sentence, El Mencho was released and immediately returned to Mexico to resume its activities in the trafficking of drugs. Already connected in Jalisco, he focused on traffic to the European market under the strategy of his brother-in-law

Here is the full DEA press release from last Wednesday, with respect to CJNG and Los Cuinis

Action Targets CJNG and Los Cuinis, Drug Trafficking Organizations that Rank Among the Most Powerful Cartels in Mexico

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two Mexican narcotics trafficking organizations, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).  OFAC also today designated two Mexican nationals, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, who are leaders of CJNG and the Los Cuinis DTO, respectively.  These drug cartels and their leaders play significant roles in international narcotics trafficking.  As a result of today’s action, all assets of these entities and individuals that are based in the United States or in the control of U.S. persons are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

“In recent years, we have seen a rising trend in the erosion of historically powerful cartels alongside the emergence of new drug trafficking organizations like CJNG and its close ally Los Cuinis DTO.  These two organizations have rapidly expanded their criminal empire in recent years through the use of violence and corruption.  

They now rank among the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico,” said John E. Smith, Acting Director of OFAC.  “Today’s action demonstrates our determination to reverse this trend and to significantly disrupt the activities of their leaders.”

Today’s designation was taken in close coordination with the Los Angeles Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration and is part of a larger effort by the Treasury Department to collaborate with Mexican authorities in the sanctioning of Mexican drug trafficking organizations.

CJNG emerged approximately five years ago from the remnants of the Milenio Cartel, which was dismantled following the capture of its designated leader, Armando Valencia Cornelio, and his successors.  CJNG has expanded beyond Jalisco to other Mexican states, including Michoacan and Colima. 

CJNG has also further developed its ties to other criminal organizations around the world, including in the United States, Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia.  Much of this expansion has impacted rival DTOs, including designated entities Los Caballeros Templarios and Los Zetas, by taking away their territory and market share, which has resulted in violent confrontations with CJNG and other DTOs.  With additional territory, CJNG has been able to increase its drug trafficking, wealth, and influence.       

Nemesio (also known as Ruben and “Mencho”) Oseguera Cervantes is the leader of CJNG and has been significantly involved in drug trafficking activities since the 1990s.  He was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1994 and served nearly three years in prison.  Following his release from custody, Oseguera Cervantes returned to Mexico and reengaged in drug trafficking activity. 

The Los Cuinis DTO first arose in the 1990s as a faction of the Milenio Cartel and is engaged in cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking.  The close alliance between CJNG and the Los Cuinis DTO is due not only to their origins in the Milenio Cartel but also because the leader of the Los Cuinis DTO, Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, is the brother-in-law of Oseguera Cervantes.  Gonzalez Valencia has also been significantly involved in drug trafficking since the 1990s, when he was involved in methamphetamine trafficking.  Mexican authorities captured Gonzalez Valencia in Mexico in late February 2015.  

In March 2014, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia indicted Oseguera Cervantes and Gonzalez Valencia on the charge of being the principal leaders of a Continuing Criminal Enterprise, among other crimes.

Since June 2000, more than 1,700 entities and individuals have been named pursuant to the Kingpin Act for their role in international narcotics trafficking. Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1.075 million per violation to more severe criminal penalties. Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $5 million.  Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million.  Other individuals could face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.