LatinNews Daily - 9 December 2024

Mexico: On 4 December the US Department of State increased from US$10m to US$15m the reward it is offering for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the co-founder and current leader of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), a major Mexican drug trafficking organisation (DTO). Since 2017, El Mencho – a fugitive - has been indicted several times in the US for drug trafficking. Most recently, in April 2022, he was charged with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise; conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl for importation into the US; and use of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking crimes. The reward increase is offered under the US State Department’s narcotics rewards programme, which supports law enforcement efforts to identify and bring to justice major violators of US narcotics laws. The increased reward is a sign that the US is adjusting its priorities in its efforts to crackdown on Mexican DTOs. With the co-founders of the Sinaloa DTO - Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera and Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada García - behind bars in the US, the new reward offered for El Mencho exceeds the US$10m offered in April 2023 for Iván Guzmán Salazar, Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, and Ovidio Guzmán López, and the US$5m offered for Joaquín Guzmán López, the sons of El Chapo who lead the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa DTO. Given Ovidio and Joaquín are now in US custody as well, the upped reward for El Mencho suggests a shift in focus towards the CJNG.

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