Mexican drug cartels are sending a stark message to the United States that their influence and presence are undeniable: “We are here. We are among you.”
This was the sentiment expressed by Special Agent Matthew W. Allen of the DEA, who oversees the agency’s Los Angeles division. During a recent U.S. Senate hearing, he highlighted the serious risks presented by Mexican criminal organizations like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Agent Allen recounted disturbing details regarding the CJNG’s intimidation tactics, indicating that cartel members were actively monitoring DEA agents and witnesses involved in the trial of Rubén Oseguera González, commonly known as El Menchito, the son of CJNG leader Nemesio Oseguera, also known as El Mencho.
He warned the Senate Judiciary Committee that the cartel’s ruthless nature was exemplified by their willingness to retaliate against family members of informants. The operational reach of the CJNG extends into the United States, posing a significant threat to American law enforcement officials.
“In my 22 years-plus in the DEA in the Los Angeles area, and other regions, I’ve witnessed numerous instances of cartels surveilling our personnel, both in Mexico and within the U.S.,” Allen declared.
He emphasized that such monitoring activities are common and that agents often discover they are being followed when they execute search or arrest warrants. The need to alert local law enforcement in such instances highlights the constant peril faced by DEA agents, even in their own country.
“I’ve personally lost several friends on this job,” he added, underscoring the grave risks involved in counter-narcotics operations.
During the Senate hearing, titled “The Thin Blue Line: Protecting America from the Cartels,” Allen shared harrowing instances of cartel violence targeting U.S. officials and their families. He noted that after El Menchito’s capture and subsequent prosecution, a witness who had cooperated with law enforcement was executed in Mexico, along with his wife.
Additionally, the murder of the daughter of another cooperating witness shortly after sentencing exemplified the horrors inflicted by the cartel in response to legal actions against them. “These horrific acts of revenge underline the threat these organizations pose to U.S. security,” he warned, describing them as adversaries willing to kill without hesitation and with the ability to reach across borders unimpeded.
Before his life sentence, Oseguera González was ordered to forfeit over $6 billion in cartel drug trafficking profits by the D.C. courts. He was convicted of conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the U.S. and for using a firearm within a drug conspiracy. After his initial arrest in Mexico in 2015, he was freed only to be recaptured shortly after and eventually extradited to the United States in early 2020, where he faced trial.
His prosecution is seen as a significant setback for the CJNG, now recognized as one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico following the decline of the Sinaloa Cartel due to internal conflicts among its factions.
In a concerted effort to dismantle the cartel, U.S. authorities have designated CJNG a terrorist group. A bounty of $15 million has been placed on El Mencho’s head, and the assets of several cartel leaders, including El Mencho, have been frozen.
Even amid these efforts, both Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and his brother, Don Rodo, continue to lead the CJNG and remain top targets for U.S. anti-drug officials.
In a revealing statement during the hearing, Agent Allen disclosed that some of El Mencho’s family members were living in a luxury gated community in Riverside, California, mere blocks from the Chief of Police.
Cristian Fernando Gutiérrez, also known as El Guacho, and his wife, the daughter of El Mencho, were implicated in a raid where DEA agents seized garbage bags filled with luxury items and $1 million in cash, totaling around $2.25 million in stolen goods.
“These cartel figures were living in luxury, embedded in our communities, hiding in plain sight,” Allen noted, pointing out their operation in the U.S. “They not only reside in our neighborhoods but also smuggle their dangerous products into American homes under false pretenses.”
El Guacho had fled to the U.S. while faking his death in Mexico after allegedly participating in the kidnapping of two Mexican marines as retaliation against the arrest of Rosalinda González Valencia, El Mencho’s wife.
After being apprehended late last year, U.S. authorities accused him of being a leader within the cartel and detailed how he utilized a false identity to evade law enforcement and lead a life of opulence in California.
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