One of Mexico’s most powerful and violent cartels branched into the lucrative business of human smuggling. Law enforcement officials identified several routes used by Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) to eventually move migrants across the U.S. border.
Breitbart Texas consulted with U.S. law enforcement officials operating in Mexico, as well as Mexican military sources who agree CJNG is actively operating human smuggling routes from Mexico’s southern border to Texas. While CJNG is linked to a large part of the violence in central and western Mexico over control of lucrative drug production territories and corridors, the incursion into the human smuggling went largely unnoticed for a while, a U.S. law enforcement source tells Breitbart Texas.
In recent years, CJNG made a push for control of Cancun, which is also one of Mexico’s busiest shipping ports. The fight for Cancun also includes a human smuggling and trafficking route into Mexico where migrants from various countries enter via air or seaport.
The move into human smuggling appeared to have been a smooth transition by using the cartel’s established routes and partnerships in border cities. For years, CJNG operators have been able to move methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine into the U.S. by using the corridors of other organizations such as the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas and sects of the Gulf Cartel. Those partnerships have historically opened lanes to CJNG operators without incident while at the same time capitalizing on the knowledge of local smugglers.
Law enforcement officials from both Mexico and the U.S. revealed to Breitbart Texas that CJNG is using those same routes to move international migrants from the southern part of Mexico to border cities like Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas and Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
The focus on human smuggling by Mexican authorities comes as thousands of migrants travel through that country daily with the intention of crossing the U.S. border.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Gerald “Tony” Aranda is an international journalist with more than 20 years of experience working in high-risk areas for print and broadcast news outlets investigating organized crime, corruption, and drug trafficking in the U.S. and Mexico. In 2016, Gerald took up the pseudonym of “Tony” when he joined Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project. Since then he has come out of the shadows and become a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.
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