The ‘Jungle Raj’ of a Ruthless Drug Mafia

The drug mafia’s network is global; therefore, it must be tackled in a coordinated world-wide simultaneous campaign. Only then can humanity be free of this curse.

In my column last week, I discussed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s crackdown on drug cartels and made a passing reference to Mexico’s drug mafia. Little did I anticipate then that the Mexican army would soon eliminate El Mencho - the world’s most notorious drug trafficker. For years, he had brazenly defied the authority of the Mexican government while simultaneously becoming a serious menace to the United States.

The scale of his infamy can be measured by a single fact: The US government had placed a bounty of approximately Rs 136 crore on his head. His death, however, raises pressing questions like what, if anything, will change? And, will it even make a dent in the global drug trade?
Before discussing this question, let me mention that I have travelled to Mexico. The unrestrained and brutal influence of drug traffickers is visible everywhere there. Drugs are even delivered to homes. Incidentally, in several European countries, drugs are openly included on menus. I observed similar trends in Copenhagen and in Canada. As far as the jungle rule of the drug mafia in Mexico is concerned, there are many gangs, but El Mencho’s cartel was the largest and the most ruthless.

El Mencho’s real name was Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. He was born in a remote village in Mexico’s rugged hills, where there was virtually no rule of law. Opium and marijuana were cultivated there alongside avocados. But he had bigger ambitions. To try his luck, he illegally entered the United States. There, he was caught in a heroin trafficking case, served his sentence, and was deported back to Mexico.

To gain an in-depth understanding of police operations, he even joined the police force. After some time, he discarded the uniform and began working as a hit-man for the Milenio Cartel. However, his eyes were set on the boss’s chair. He attempted to take control of the Milenio Cartel but failed. He then joined hands with a local money-laundering gang and founded the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, launching an open war against rival groups.

Not only that, he expanded into extortion and kidnapping. He bribed politicians and police officers generously, and those who did not yield to bribes were eliminated with extreme brutality. He would decapitate victims and hang their heads from bridges to instil fear of his name among the public. In 2015, within just one and a half months of its formation, Mencho’s gang slit the throats of 12 honest police officers.

In 2020, his gang attempted to assassinate Mexico City’s then police chief, Omar García Harfuch. The police chief survived the attack, but two of his bodyguards were killed. Another previous incident illustrates both his power and his deep penetration into the administration. In May 2015, the Mexican army discovered his hiding place and moved to surround him. However, his informants alerted him in time. His gang shot down an army helicopter with a rocket launcher, allowing El Mencho to escape.

His intelligence network was so strong that he would receive advance information of all operations being planned against him. But this time, his luck was not so favourable.
There is an old saying that sometimes love can also prove fatal. The same seems to have happened with El Mencho. Intelligence agencies had been monitoring an associate of his girlfriend. That individual took Mencho’s girlfriend to a specific location where he came to meet her. The next day, the girlfriend left, but Mencho stayed behind. As soon as US intelligence agencies confirmed his presence, the army launched an operation. Injured in the assault, Mencho died in an air ambulance.

However, the bloodshed that followed his death in Mexico reveals the extent of his power. The havoc unleashed by his cartel and the attacks carried out on the police have terrified the entire country. Several police officers have been killed. It is extremely difficult to determine the exact number of members in El Mencho’s gang, but estimates suggest that the total membership of all drug cartels in Mexico could range from 1,75,000 to 2,00,000.

Mexican cartels operate across the globe, and in the United States alone, their daily earnings are said to be between Rs 500 crore and Rs 600 crore. Their worldwide business figures run into numbers so large that they are hard for an ordinary person even to comprehend.
Mencho’s cartel amassed enormous wealth from the drug trade. You may have read Mario Puzo’s ‘The Godfather’ or watched the film adaptation. The book and Francis Ford Coppola’s movie adaptation don’t even come close to what El Mencho was. He was more evil and even more dangerous than the fictional portrayal of the Italian-American mafia. El Mencho’s gang was not limited to supplying drugs; it was also involved in the global kidnapping and trafficking of young women. The cartel possessed a substantial stockpile of weapons. Although the Mexican army seized some armoured vehicles and rocket launchers, these were only a few of his suspected vast arsenal of military grade weapons.

Shortly after El Mencho’s death, California-born Juan Carlos Valencia González declared himself as the new mafia leader. The pressing question now is whether Mexico can effectively confront such a well-entrenched and aggressive criminal network?

In my view, this is not Mexico’s battle alone. Mexico may be a major source of drugs, but drug victims are spread across the world. Just as the United States has supported Mexico, the entire international community must stand with it.
Every country should tighten its border security and enforce strict blockades. A coordinated global crackdown is essential to completely dismantle the drug cartels. If we fail to eradicate drugs, future generations will pay a heavy price for our complacency. Those involved in this trade must realise that their greed is destroying the world.

The author is the chairman, Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha.