Freddie Ponton
21st Century Wire
Street unrest and clashes between the national government, society and CJNG affected cities and tourist centers along the west coast of Mexico, including Guadalajara, El Tuito, Tapalpa, Cancun and others.
People from the Jalisco region are not collateral harm in the distant war. They are human at the expense of an global strategy that treats Mexico as a dump of surplus weapons and a fresh global laboratory of privatized security.
Between 2006 and 2018, European and Israeli arms producers exported about 238 000 weapons to Mexico, including about 24,000 Israeli pieces supplied by Israel Weapons Industries. Mexican police forces received 16,442 Galil and Tavor rifles and 7,398 Jericho pistols, along with sniper systems classified as weapons for "military targets". study "Deadly Trade" papers how Israeli rifles supplied to the police in Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Guerrero and Jalisco later appeared in cartel arsenals and allegedly were utilized in Death troops operations in Veracruz in years 2011–2014, and were besides recovered in safe houses in Michoacán, Guerrero and Tamaulipas. The weapon to defend citizens from drug force became tools of the same violence, transmitted by corruption, theft or simple indifference of police and cartel operations.
The same survey estimates that if the acquisition rates persist, over 1,700 Barrett rifles per year can hit from American civilian markets to Mexico, meaning that a large part of the manufacturer's production goes back to Mexican safety forces. The armored "monsters", anti-aircraft fire and spectacular convoys associated with CJNG are so not anomalies, but the logical effect of a border government that guardes people, allowing this iron river to flow.
Historically, these are examples of American intelligence utilizing Latin American drug cartels and criminal syndicates to execute various functions for a wider geopolitical programme. Since the late 1990s, key members of the celebrated Zetas cartel, consisting of erstwhile elite Mexican army soldiers, They initially received all their weapons and specialized military and intelligence training from the Pentagon and the CIA, most likely to aid the U.S. fight drugs against Mexican cartels. Later, erstwhile they began acting as a Los Zetas cartel, all their skills and resources were utilized in the fight against organized crime. It would be naive to think that earlier communication lines and contact networks did not last despite rebranding.
This leads us to the present, after A fresh American indictment against erstwhile DEA authoritative Paul Campo and alleged erstwhile CIA agent Robert Sensi, which shows how the same ecosystem that claims to be fighting CJNG can besides sale its knowledge. Prosecutors from the confederate territory of fresh York state that Campo, after 25 years of working for the DEA and acting as Deputy Head of the Financial Operations Office, agreed to aid with what he considered to be the CSING emissary's movement and to hide up to $12 million of drug gross while providing advice on human trafficking and confidential investigative information obtained in the word of office.
According to the suit and later reports, Campo and Sensi allegedly began converting cartel cash into cryptocurrency, talking about real property redirection, and structured transactions to avoid banks and financial crime units. Prosecutors claim to have laundered about $750,000 as a test, including a cryptocurrency transfer worth over $200,000, presented as a payment for about 220 kilograms of cocaine destined for fresh York City, awaiting a resale value of about $5 million.
Importantly, judicial papers and press reports indicate that talks did not end with money and cocaine. The informant impersonating a CJNG typical praised attaching explosives to dronesWhile Sensi speculated on C-4 charges capable of destroying full objects. The pair allegedly explored the canals to get AR-15-style rifles, M4 and M16 rifles, grenade launchers and anti-tank grenade launchers – exactly specified weapons as are seen in CJNG convoys and raids, which complement Israeli Tavory and Galilee already documented on both the police and cartel sides.
Both men have not confessed and are found innocent during the course of the case. Nevertheless, the structure is revealing and allowed CJNG to avoid getting into the obscure corners of an American underworld, giving the cartel the chance to meet with people who erstwhile informed legislature how to fight cartel financing and offered them their share.
When El Mencho died on February 22, 2026 during a military operation in Tapalpa, the reaction was immediate. According to the Mexican Army's peculiar forces, supported by Air Force aircraft and the National Guard's fast consequence Unit from the Mexican Secretariat of National Defence (SEDENA), they clashed with armed CJNG soldiers, killing 4 on site, wounding 3 (including El Mencho) who died during air transport to Mexico. They reportedly detained 2 CJNG fighters alive, and 3 soldiers were injured, simultaneously taking over armored vehicles and rocket launchers."capable to shoot down aircraft and destruct armored units."
PHOTO: Puerto Vallarta, a city celebrated for its Los Muertos beach, long promenade Malecón and events (Source: Villa Experience)
Within hours CJNG agents hijacked buses and cars, set them on fire and blocked the roads on highways 200 and 15D and another routes to and from Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. The airport in Puerto Vallarta was virtually closed due to the fact that carriers cancelled almost all flights and access roads became impassable, despite the authorities claiming that the terminal itself remains safe under the protection of the military and the National Guard. Travelers were ordered to stay at home, classes were suspended in many municipalities, and Jalisco announced a safety emergency for "chodigo rojo". Yesterday our editor-in-chief, Patrick Henningsen, reported straight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico:
On 22 and 23 February, the airport authorities and abroad embassies explicitly recommended tourists not to effort to scope Puerto Vallarta or Guadalajara at all due to the fact that airlines cancelled global flights and roads remained blocked by CJNG barricades and burnt vehicles.
This is what arms proliferation looks like at the scene. Israeli Tavor Rifles, which appears in CJNG's propaganda films, were originally sold to Mexican national forces. 50-calibre Barretts, utilized to shoot down military helicopters In states specified as Michoacán, they were bought in American arms stores by straw merchants. Uniforms, armour and equipment on both sides of the roadblock Jalisco frequently comes from the same global suppliers.
Mexican intelligence reports, cited by the Mexican portal Milenio, describe the wing of the CJNG drones called "Operadores droneros", a unit with emblems consisting of about 10 fighters operating in coordinated troops. 1 fighter, sometimes a woman, directs maneuvers on the radio, while 5 shooters supply a shield, and 4 operate 2 drones loaded with explosives, pushing and withdrawing in pairs. Cameras in helmets and assembled films turn all mission into propaganda and intellectual warfare.
These units are based on civilian DJI platforms, specified as Matrice 300 RTK and Mini 3, modified to deliver explosives, with a strength of up to 55 minutes, loads of about 3 kilograms, thermal imagination and optics capable of observing targets over 20 kilometres. On the hills of Michoacán and on the outskirts of the towns of Jalisco this translates into vertical, distant attacks that bypass the checkpoints and make all convoy a mark from above.escenariomundial+2
By the same investigation by Milenio and another Mexican analyses, any CJNG militants were sent to Ukraineto learn the tactics of drones and urban combat on the active front before they restored these skills to Mexico. In conjunction with American allegations that Campo and the Sensi were discussing the acquisition of drones and explosives for CJNG, the painting depicts a cartel treating the arms markets of Donbas and the US as part of 1 training and procurement cycle.
Operation Tapalpa was not just a success of Mexican intelligence. The White home and Pentagon admitted that the United States "delivered Intelligence support to Mexico during the raid. The US Embassy in Mexico stressed that the mission was "planned and performed by Mexican peculiar forces", while the Mexican authorities reiterated that there were no American soldiers on site. Declaration Sedeny admits that "as part of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the United States, additional information has been obtained from the US authorities."
In the first hours after the raid respective Mexican media indicated that there is inactive no complete written message from the national safety Office, and key details, specified as the exact number of victims, identity confirmation and exact coordinates, appear slowly, which creates a short window of uncertainty, even erstwhile images of burning vehicles spread across the country.
When American satellites and "complementary information" helped Mexico kill his father, the boy prepared to replace him was already locked in a supermax prison in Colorado. Rubén Oseguera González, "El Menchito", born in San Francisco in 1990, was released from Mexico to the US in 2020 and tried in Washington as co-leader of the CJNG global human trafficking division. Witnesses at his trial in 2024 described him as an actual deputy, coordinating multi-ton cocaine and methamphetamine shipments, directing paid killers and, according to testimony, approving shooting down a Mexican chopper in Jalisco in 2015.
Former traders and erstwhile officials told the jury that he was bragging about the assignment over a 100 murders, utilized uniformed police to smuggle drugs and cash, and even approved the alleged employment of "Russian with military experience" for training armed with CJNG. In March 2025, an American justice He convicted him for life plus 30 years in prison and ordered confiscation of $6.26 billion; by September 2025 he was transferred under peculiar Administrative Measures to ADX Florence, a national supermax known as the "Alcatraz Rocky Mountains".
A fresh U.S. merger node led by the military is behind this. In January 2026, US North Command (USNORTHCOM) announced the creation of Joint Interagency Task Force – Countermeasure Cartel (JIATF-CC), commanded by Brigadier General Maurizio Calabrese. Officially, JIATF-CC connects Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and elements of the American intelligence community to "map cartel members' networks on both sides of the US–Mexico border." In practice, defence officials They told reportersthat JIATF-CC "played a role" in the search for El Mencho, providing specialized intelligence to the cartel and coordinating activities with Mexican military counterparts. A erstwhile American authoritative described how Washington collected a detailed "target package" on El Mencho, built on the basis of DEA investigations and American intelligence, and gave it to Seden.
Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum praised the Army's Cabinet, the National defender and safety Guard, while appealing for peace and referring to "absolute coordination" with state governments, including indirectly with global partners. Messages The Mexican Ministry of Defence never mention the name JIATF-CC, but their references to "complementary information" and bilateral coordination fit well into this structure.
The fire and roadblock weekend was a pure cartel retaliation. It was a way of CJNG to tell the Mexican state and any company and household in Jalisco that the decapitation of the organization would entail a territorial price, including the closure of airports, the cut of highways and orders to stay on site, for the raid planned with the US.
The death of El Mencho is presented as a turning point. Officials describe CJNG as the most powerful and fastest increasing cartel in Mexico and admit that killing its founder is simply a major symbolic blow. However, analysts note that the organization has a deep bench and franchise structure designed to last decapitation. As of 23 February, no institution appointed a formal successor; instead, law enforcement leaks and expert analysis form short list: his stepson Juan Carlos Valencia González ("El 03"), heads of squares specified as El Jardinero, El Sapo and El Doble R, strategy on synthetic drugs Audias Flores Silva and members financial clan González Valencia. The likely consequence is not peace, but mutation. Analysts foretell a conflict for succession, divisions, and local wars that keep the arms, drones and finance laundering marketplace very alive.
Israeli officials answer questions about rifles recovered at cartel scenes, citing confidentiality and "security issues", even though export permits are repeatedly sent to countries specified as Veracruz and Guerrero, which have well documented conspiracy and abuse records. There is no effective mechanics for tracking the end usage or tracking the Galil firearm from the mill in Israel to the urban armory in Jalisco, and yet to the secret grave in the mountains.
In the US, the arms manufacture is protected by national law, especially by the Law on the Protection of Legal Trade in Arms, which protects producers from most civilian liability. In 2020, Trump's administration transferred a number of firearms export controls from the State Department to the Department of Commerce, facilitating short arms export — Biden's administration withdrew any of these restrictions before the current administration re-re-upped key controls in late 2025. The "Corridors of Violence" study notes that Florida exporters rapidly resumed deliveries to Guatemala after withdrawal, knowing how easy these weapons could be diverted north to Mexican cartels.
Latest U.S. packages sanctions to CJNG and related parties not only point to drug trafficking and money laundering, but besides to fuelled theft, oil smuggling and timeshare fraud, stressing how profoundly cartel networks are rooted in the Mexican energy sector and tourism economy. The same buildings that launder money from drugs can launder income from eavesdropping pipelines or cheating abroad pensioners in resorts in Jalisco.
The Mexican state is related to this architecture. safety forces request rifles and armored vehicles to face cartels utilizing rifles and armored vehicles that originally sold to another safety forces or leaked from US markets. Each action requires another equipment that leaks again, which requires further action, in a self-propelled cycle that benefits arms dealers in Tel Aviv, Miami and Vienna, and turns Mexican cities into militarized zones. Analysts besides point out that in the face of the upcoming FIFA planet Championship 2026 Mexico has strong motivations to carry out loud blows against cartels, regardless of civilian reaction to calm the global audience.
In late February 2026, Puerto Vallarta remained in a fragile ceasefire. The airport has been reopened for limited global traffic, but the location of hotels has fallen, and abroad governments proceed to inform their citizens to avoid travelling to Jalisco, explicitly listing Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara in their communications. Military patrols and checkpoints multiplied, deepening the sense that the tourist town is now under constant business alternatively than under protection. For a community that remembers missing in Ayotzinapa, made utilizing many of the same weapons and under the same architecture of impunity, the sight of soldiers with Israeli rifles is not comforting.
https://21stcenturywire.com/2026/02/23/mexico-the-hidden-transnational-war-behind-el-menchos-death/
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://stateofthenation.info/
