DEA Identifies the four top CJNG bosses

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat

Mexican mainstream media is reporting that the DEA agency of the U.S. has released names that they consider being premier bosses of CJNG under the supreme leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka “El Mencho”.

Alfredo Galindo Salazar

Identified as “El Toucan”, age is unknown. Suspected location; he is hiding in Mexico or Peru, but he is considered one of the “main associates and advisers” of Mencho, according to the DEA. Regarding his ties to the CJNG, it is pointed out that his "actions were key to the logistics and capacity of the CJNG to move massive amounts of cocaine from places like Peru, Bolivia and Colombia to the United States and Europe for distribution."

Juan Manuel Abouzaid

Alias “El Escorpión, el Árabe, el Hermano y Nene”, 47, has been linked to transactions and shipments of large shipments of drugs to the United States. In 2016, federal prosecutors filed charges against him for smuggling cocaine. and methamphetamine. According to the DEA between 2013 and 2017, he was responsible for having some of the top CJNG lieutenants reporting directly to him.

Ulises Yovany Mora

Known as "Yiyo, YY, and MacWire," he is a 35-year-old US citizen, believed to have been involved in drug trafficking since 2010, but it was in 2016 that he was indicted for distributing and importing cocaine.DEA says, "he is considered the secretary of the leader of Los Cuinis, Abigael González Valencia, a key financer for shipments of cocaine from South America and imported into Mexico for distribution in the United States and Europe."

Érick Valencia Salazar

He is known as "the 85, Matazeta, Mono and Commander", the DEA identifies him as "the main associate and advisor" of Mencho; He is 43 years old and US authorities believe that he is hiding in Mexico and that he frequents both Guadalajara and Mexico City. There is a $ 5 million reward for anyone who offers information leading to their arrest; It is estimated that since 2003 he has been engaged in drug trafficking, but in 2018 he received an indictment from a federal court for conspiring to distribute more than five kilos of cocaine to the United States. 

On 3 March 2012, the Mexican Army arrested El 85 in Zapopan, Jalisco. On 27 December 2017, El 85 was released from prison after a judge concluded there were human rights violations in his due process.

There were rumors at the time he was released that he felt betrayed by El Mencho and was no longer working with the leader.  However, DEA has concluded he definitely is.

Recently, Mencho has suffered some big hit.  The cartel lost three key members of its leadership: two are his children and one is his brothers-in-law, who directed their financial operations from South America.

All three are already in United States prisons facing long sentences.

Gerardo Gonzales

It is Rubén Oseguera González, alias 'El Menchito' and who was considered the second in command of the CJNG; his sister Jessica Johanna Oseguera González, accused of money laundering through five companies; and the uncle of both Gerardo González Valencia, one of the leaders of the Los Cuinis criminal group.

Gerardo González Valencia was extradited to the U.S. from Uruguay last month, May 15^th.

Noteworthy, Armando Valencia Cornelio:

Armando Valencia Cornelio, aka Maradona or Juanito, founder of the Millennium Cartel, was released after 17 years of confinement in Mexico and the United States and will now live on Marsh Road, in Atherton, California, the richest town in the U.S.

On April 21, the capo left the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, after his sentence was reduced by 15% for having good behavior.

He filed for an early release last year in the Federal Court of the Southern District of Florida, in Miami, but the request was denied.

However, the drug trafficker who filed for a humanitarian release, and suffering from lymphatic cancer stipulated he would remain in the U.S. and live in his Atherton home.

He was then granted release.

 The Millennium Cartel or Cartel de los Valencia is the predecessor to CJNG.  The  criminal organization, originated in the southern state of Michoacán, dedicated to illegal drug trafficking and the shipment of cocaine from Mexico and the United States.

At the beginning of the 90s, Armando Valencia Cornelio took the leadership of the cartel and extended the territory of that group to the states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Tamaulipas. In those years they were known as Los Reyes del Aguacate , because they disguised their criminal activities with the production and marketing of avocado.

To read an overview of the cartel use this hyperlink.