CJNG expansion into Mexico's capital region
There is growing evidence that El Mencho's group is competing for control of Mexico City's criminal markets.
Above: Mexico City government’s map of most wanted criminal leadership available in this presentation.
InSight Crime reports on recent evidence the CJNG is moving into Mexico City. They are doing so by allying themselves with many of the capital’s smaller gangs, supplying drugs to nine of Mexico City’s boroughs. They have formed a particularly strong alliance with the Fuerza Anti-Union Tepito, a group dedicated to competing against Union Tepito. The CJNG started as the MataZetas and have a history of expanding to new locations and taking on the dominant criminal groups.
A recent presentation by the Mexico City government (supported by the Financial Intelligence Unit) documented 14 groups operating in Mexico City. Several of the local Mexico City criminal groups are listed as having ties to criminal groups in other states including Estado de Mexico, Hidalgo, Oaxaca and Morelos. While the Mexico City government continues to downplay the arrival of the CJNG, they do acknowledge the presence of two national level cartels: the Beltran Leyva Organization and La Familia Michoacana.
Entering the Mexico City market does three things for the CJNG:
It’s a profitable place to operate.
They can counter some of their rivals in the country including La Familia, Beltran Leyva, and the Knights Templar.
It provides the CJNG with greater leverage against the national government and more options for retaliation if its leadership is targeted.
There is no border in the fight for Mexico City and the fight for EdoMex
Mexico City doesn’t have particularly well defined borders with Estado de Mexico. It’s a typical urban mess. While the Mexico City government doesn’t like to discuss the national level groups operating in its territory, the government of Estado de Mexico frames the conflict in its municipalities within the national context.
Above: Map from EdoMex government of criminal groups surrounding the capital.
If you were to layer the Estado de Mexico map on top of the Mexico City map (I’ll see if I can get around to it if nobody else does), you’d see that La Famlia controls a significant portion of territory that overlaps with Union Tepito, but the CJNG has recently moved into the section to the northeast of Mexico City.
That fight between the CJNG and other groups in EdoMex does not stop at the border with Mexico City. The Central de Abastos in Mexico City, where they recently discovered drug tunnels linked to the Fuerza Anti-Union and CJNG, is less than ten kilometers from the markets in Nezahualcoyotl where the CJNG and La Familia are fighting for control.
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I wrote previous posts on the CJNG entering Mexico City in June and July. While all my recent posts are free, both of those posts are paywalled for subscribers only. In the coming months, some of my newsletters will go back behind a paywall. Thanks to everyone who pays for a subscription. If you find this newsletter useful and interesting, please consider subscribing.
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