American-born Juan Carlos Valencia, 41, is identified as the new leader of Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), succeeding his stepfather 'El Mencho'. His US citizenship complicates potential US law enforcement operations, while suspicions also link him to betraying a rival.
Mexican cartels like CJNC have evolved into decentralized networks. El Mencho's fall may cause violence, but illicit trade and money laundering will persist through resilient global logistics and corruption pipelines.
US declares 'non-international armed conflict' with drug cartels amid opioid crisis. Trump admin authorized military action against trafficking due to overdose deaths. Fentanyl deaths are a key driver.
Actually destroying the cartels is not something that will happen overnight; it will take years of concerted effort and require a fundamentally different approach to our relationship with Mexico, a shift that was begun under the Trump administration but abandoned under Biden and Harris.
