[52] While the United States proved successful in minimizing and fighting the Arellano-Felix Organization, the effectiveness on combating the war on drugs also proved successful. Al Crtel de Sinaloa le vendran los mejores aos en su actividad delictiva, mientras el Crtel de Tijuana iba en picada. Lopez Obrador seems to be doubling down on this failed strategy, Brewer said. Toya Sarno Jordan for NPR Six people have been arrested in the week since, according to the president. Another key crossing is Ciudad Jurez in Chihuahua, infamous for once being the most violent city in the world. The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL) has arguably been the CJNG's most notable rival in the last two years, despite being confined to a limited area in central Mexico. Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) - Split from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010, it is "one of the most powerful and fastest growing in Mexico and the United States," according to the DEA. Furthermore, the city has numerous smaller street gangs, whichcontrol much of the microtrafficking. [38][39] It was later reduced to .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}23+12 years in 2015 and he will be released soon. In Juarez, a Honduran migrant named Victor as well as Chihuahua Deputy Attorney General Jorge Nava questioned the survey's conclusions. It begins in the 1970s with the Guadalajara Cartel. The Cartel del Abuelo operates from the municipality of Tepalcatepec, in western Michoacn. TheSinaloa-Tijuana war was a bloody gang war fought between the rival Sinaloa and Tijuana Mexican drug cartels in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, Jalisco, Guerrero, Michoacan, and Oaxaca from 1989 to 1993 and from 2001 to 2002. Could more local solutions work. [9] Run by the Arellano-Flix family, the Tijuana cartel are also one of the main players in Narcos: Mexico Season 3. . It was the third time that week that widespread arson and shootings by drug cartels had been seen in cities across northern Mexico. According to Vctor Snchez, a national security expert at the University of Coahuila, the CSRL was initially able to stave off CJNG advances due to its strong backing from local communities that profit from oil theft. "I don't feel safe.". With the imminent release of El Ingeniero and the current consolidations with in Baja California as well as an alliance with Rafa Caro Quintero and the Sonora plaza its speculated the Tijuana Cartel may again rise and surpass both the Gulf and Juarez Cartel's who along with the Sinaloa Cartel are suffering greatly from internal strife. [20][21], The Tijuana Cartel has infiltrated the Mexican law enforcement and judicial systems and is directly involved in street-level trafficking within the United States. Stephanie Brewer, director for Mexico at the Washington Office on Latin America. On 8 November 1992, several Sinaloa Cartel hitmen in police uniforms massacred several Tijuana Cartel members and partygoers at the Christine nightclub in Puerto Vallarta, where Benjamin Arellano Felix was having his birthday party. TIJUANA, Mexico Moses Zazueta Ramirez was at home last Friday when he started getting messages from his mom and seeing the chaos unfold on social media. But everyone else is saying: 'How can you say that, have you not seen what is happening?. Every Mexican president since Felipe Calderon in 2006 has responded to cartel violence by sending the military. The most extensive database on organized crime in the Americas. The cartel was involved in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana in the Baja California area. [24] The clan of the Arellano Felix continues, although diminished after the capture of their leaders. "The most recent outbreaks of violence have been the execution of the last soldiers [of the CSRL]," Balderas said. The Arellano-Felix family controlled the city of Tijuana.. This has brought the group into regular conflict with the CJNG since 2017 but with no side gaining a distinct advantage. Please support our mission investigating organized crime. The Tijuana Cartel ( Spanish: Crtel de Tijuana) or Arellano-Flix-Cartel ( Spanish: Crtel Arellano Flix, CAF) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. [52] The impact on the United States was so significant that heavy involvement by the American government was required. But much of the efforts done between 2008 and 2010 in Tijuana would not have been possible without the coordination of local police forces and the Mexican military and possibly with a cartel truce to put down the violence. On August 31, 2012, Eduardo Arellano Felix was extradited to the United States to face trial for racketeering, money laundering and narcotics trafficking charges in the Southern District of California. Investigators had linked the airline's owner, Jess Villegas Covallos, to Ramn Arellano Flix.[9]. The Luis Fernando Snchez Arellano new generation organization of the cartel is believed to be one of the newest leaders in it to begin shipping cocaine from Colombia, particularly from Los Rastrojos and other Colombian dealers. A drug cartel had hijacked and burned more than a dozen vehicles across his home city of Tijuana, and rumors spread that they had announced a curfew. Guzman told his followers (including the Juarez Cartel and his Sinaloa Cartel men) that those who did not stand with the federation stood against it, and that the federation would monopolize all criminal enterprises in the country. [46][47], The Tijuana Cartel is believed to have ties with FARC, a Colombia guerrilla group that also has ties with other Mexican drug cartels. But again, the CJNG does not have much influence there. The CJNG has a presence inCiudad Jurez, supposedly bolstered by an alliance with the NewJurez Cartel (Nuevo Cartel de Jurez). The shootout led to a renewal of all-out warfare, and Carrillo Fuentes sided with the Tijuana Cartel, seeking to have Guzman killed. The US Treasury Department has included on its blacklists various businesses connected to the cartel in the city. SAN DIEGO - Oscar Rodriguez-Guevara of Tijuana, Mexico was sentenced today to 162 months in prison for smuggling multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico and then laundering the illicit proceeds, all for the Sinaloa Cartel. The latest escalation is not just a repeat of the mid-2000s, but in some ways even more dramatic because of the new factor that is Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who is writing a book about organized crime in Mexico. Chapo is later arrested and brought to the same prison where Neto is. ", A member of the National Guard patrols Playas de Tijuana. In 2016, the organization became known as Cartel Tijuana Nueva Generacin (New Generation Tijuana Cartel) and began to align itself under the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, along with Beltrn Leyva Organization (BLO) to create an anti-Sinaloa alliance, in which the Jalisco New Generation Cartel heads. The port of Chetumal is a gateway for chemical precursors used in the production of synthetic drugs. hide caption. Tirado then distracted the two men by calling out Ramon's name, and as Ramon and Alamba turned around, two gunmen approached them from behind and shot them several times with handguns. They set up their command center outside Tijuana. Carlos Atilano Pea organized the "united for security" rally outside a military base where Mexico's President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador gave his daily press briefing during his visit to Tijuana. Boca Del Rio Massacre- On september 20, 2011, gunmen from Los Matazetas working at the time under orders of the Sinaloa Cartel dumped the tortured bodies of 35 men and women along a city highway in Boca Del . At the beginning of season 3, Sinaloa is inarguably the worst-performing organization among all four major cartels active in Mexico. The fall of Joaqun Guzmn Loera, alias "El Chapo," has led to a potential rift between his successor,Ismael Zambada Garca, alias "El Mayo," andGuzmn Loera's sons, but the CJNG has not been able to turn the acrimony to its advantage. "I think these events should encourage us to really think seriously, precisely about what are these structural conditions that allowed this violence to take place. If you are wondering about who controls the Sinaloa and Tijuana Cartels at the end of Narcos: Mexico season 3, we got you covered. The Tijuana Cartel failed in its goal of killing Guzman, but Guzman would be arrested in hiding in Guatemala, and he was accused of the murder of the cardinal. [11] Mexican army troops were sent to Tijuana in January 2007 in an operation to restore order to the border city and root out corrupt police officers, who mostly were cooperating with the Tijuana cartel. So you think youre seeing something, you think you understand whats going on but you have no way to confirm.. The Sinaloa-Tijuana war was a bloody gang war fought between the rival Sinaloa and Tijuana Mexican drug cartels in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, Jalisco, Guerrero, Michoacan, and Oaxaca from 1989 to 1993 and from 2001 to 2002. Advertisement. So far, this has not been entirely successful as the alliance has not weakened the Sinaloa Cartel's considerable membership and intelligence network in the city, which is built on a tight relationship with local officials and institutions. hide caption. Tijuana residents take part in a peaceful rally outside a military base during a visit by Mexico's president. [32], In February 2020, senior cartel operator Octavio Leal Hernandez, also known as "Chapito Leal," was arrested with seven others by Tijuana police for stealing cars from a used-car dealership at gunpoint and possessing marijuana.[33][34]. Guzman proceeded to anger them by trafficking drugs through their territory without informing them or giving them a cut of the action. "My coworkers told me that, hey, you got to come and I said, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to risk myself to just get some money," he said. While the Sinaloa cartel maintains a heavy presence in Sinaloa state, it has also ousted its rivals in the lucrative smuggling corridors of Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. The group has expanded rapidly across Mexico and is now one of the country's most. After Benjamn barely escapes from being captured by the soldiers, he goes into hiding, leaving Enedina in charge of day-to-day operations. On August 14, 2006, Francisco Javier Arellano Flix was apprehended by the United States Coast Guard off the coast of Baja California Sur. How and where does the Sinaloa Cartel operate? "Los Cabos" are a regional Tijuana cartel organization that worked under the Cartel de Sinaloa (CDS) , then a majority of them left to join the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacin (CJNG) . A man believed to be the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in Tijuana was arrested in the border city on Tuesday. The unfortunate shooting was part of the battle between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Tijuana Cartel. Moses Zazueta Ramirez is back at work after taking two days off out of fear of more cartel violence. September 8, 2021 2794 The internal differences of the Sinaloa Cartel, between El Mayo Zambada and the sons of Chapo Guzmn, exploded in a border town of Baja California and Sonora. The war between the Sinaloa and Tijuana cartels may have set the stage for later wars between the Beltrn Leyva and Zetas crime syndicates, but it was the first great narco conflict. Step outside tonight and there would be trouble, was the story doing the rounds. We go into the field to interview, report and investigate. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Shops and bystanders were being targeted, with some officials saying it was in retaliation to arrests of high-level cartel leaders and others attributing it to disputes between gangs. Members of the National Guard patrol a beach in Playas de Tijuana on August 16. And thats by design. Get fresh updates on organized crime from across the region delivered to your inbox. [13] The U.S. authorities speculated WikiLeaks in 2009 that Tijuana's former police boss, Julin Leyzaola, had made agreements with Snchez Arellano to bring relative peace in Tijuana. In June 2020, reports emerged that the CJNG might be making further incursions into Tamaulipas through an alliance with Los Metros, a rising faction of the Gulf Cartel. The brothers retaliated by killing Guzman's envoy Rayo Lopez when he drunkenly showed up to their nightclub, with Ramon Arellano Felix shooting him publicly and having many of his family members killed to prevent reprisals. On December 1, 2011, William R. Sherman, acting special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's office in San Diego, announced that the cartel had been annihilated and that the Sinaloa Cartel now controlled a large number of the drug routes the Tijuana Cartel once had. As a result, the Tijuana Cartel reversed their branding back to Cartel Arellano Flix and arranged the assassination of Cabo 33 the Jalisco Cartel's head of operations in Baja California, after effectively removing the Jalisco Cartel's influence in Baja California the Tijuana Cartel has further engaged the Sinaloa Cartel for control of Tijuana plaza and its surrounding areas. Los Viagras are a splinter group from both La Familia Michoana and the Knights Templar, devoted mainly to drug trafficking and extortion. Investigators say the attack was carried out by Los Salazar, a Sonoran-based criminal group affiliated with Los Chapitos, the sons of infamous Sinaloa Cartel drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.The people they targeted worked under Felipe Eduardo Barajas Lozano ('El Omega'), a local drug kingpin. ", Carlos Atilano Pea organized the "united for security" rally outside a military base where Mexico's President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador gave his daily press briefing during his visit to Tijuana. The center of Mexico City is largely controlled by La Unin Tepito, a gang native to the capital, though smaller groups such as theCartel de Tlhuacenjoy plentiful incomes from extortion and microtrafficking. However, the government has. Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero says residents of her city can trust officials to keep them safe. [13], The relative peace in the city of Tijuana in 20102012 has raised speculations of a possible agreement between the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel to maintain peace in the area. It is not because the state has developed effective policies.. Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garca, the man many believe to have the most control over the Sinaloa cartel, has spent five decades in the drug trade.While El Chapo is widely described as the cartel's leader, that notion obscures the fact that Sinaloa operates more like a federation with multiple leaders who form something analogous to a board of directors. Eduardo Arellano Flix was captured by the Mexican Army after a shootout in Tijuana on October 26, 2008;[20] he had been the last of the Arellano Flix brothers at large. Synthetics had reshaped the geography of drug demand. Tijuana streets flow with the blood of rival drug cartels A vicious turf war has claimed 2,700 lives in Mexico this year. In Utah, fentanyl overdose deaths increased 300 percent over a three-year period. The state is important for its ports and access to trans-Atlantic drug routes, as well as being a corridor for human trafficking. As a result of these efforts, the Tijuana cartel is unable to project much power outside of its base in Tijuana. Los Palillos ("The Toothpicks") was a group operating within Tijuana Cartel, who worked as the armed wing of the Tijuana Cartel in the United States, for the control of the criminal activities in California and Nevada. "The Zetas have been decimated.". He then proceeded to declare war on the Gulf Cartel, arranging for a series of raids targeting Cardenas Guillen and his brother, Antonio Cardenas Guillen, in Nuevo Leon, starting a new war. NBC News' Guad Venegas reports on how violence from cartels has. And on Friday, Mexico's President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador visited and gave a national address from a military base, flanked by senior defense officials. Chapo attacks Benjamn Arellano Flixs (Alfonso Dosal) 40th birthday party and kills Enedina Arellano Flixs (Mayra Hermosillo) new husband, Claudio Vazquez. Th. Some of them. [36] On December 12, 2011, Tijuana Police Chief Alberto Capella Ibarra announced that captured cartel lieutenant Francisco Sillas Rocha had confessed that the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel had formed a truce and that the Tijuana Cartel was seeking to merge with the Sinaloa Cartel. Tras conocerse la noticia de su inminente salida de prisin el pasado 18 de agosto, fue mucha la incertidumbre sobre cul sera el futuro del exlder del cartel de Tijuana. It's very clear and everyone knows it," Caballero said. In October 1997, a retired U.S. Air Force C-130A that was sold to the airline Aeropostal Cargo de Mxico was seized by Mexican federal officials, who alleged that the aircraft had been used to haul drugs for the cartel up from Central and South America, as well as around the Mexican interior. The CJNG has made direct attempts to dominate this area but continues to face the Sinaloa Cartel, remnants of Los Zetas and Los Pelones, another group to emerge from the fragmentation of the Gulf Cartel. Keep up with all the latest news, arts and culture, and TV highlights from KPBS. 1993 Guadalajara International Airport shootout. "La Moni," who police say is an assassin for the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested Tuesday during a police raid in Colonia Miramar in Tijuana. Federal officials in Mexico are deploying hundreds of troops to the border city of Tijuana following a wave of violent attacks. hide caption. The Flores brothers admitted to smuggling at least 1,500 kilograms of cocaine for the Sinaloa cartel into the US every month between 2005 and 2008. Tijuana hasn't seen this type of violence in its streets since the mid-2000s, when the federal government took a hardline approach on the cartels. I n Mexico's big cities, drug cartel gunmen normally act like phantoms. He was born in Mexico City, grew up in San Diego and has two passports to prove it. [12] Much of the violence that emerged in 2008 in Tijuana was a result of conflicts within the Tijuana cartel: on one side, the faction led by Teodoro Garca Simental (a.k.a. Its decentralized location in Mexico and proximity to the United States border allowed the Arellano-Felix brothers easy routes to control the illicit drug markets in Tijuana and southern California. It was in this city that the CJNG kidnapped and briefly heldtwo of El Chapo's sons in August 2016. KPBS border reporter Gustavo Solis talked to experts about the reasons behind the attacks. We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. [9] However, since the 2006 Sinaloa Cartel incursion in Baja California and the fall of the Arellano-Flix brothers, the Tijuana Cartel has been reduced to a few cells. This criminal organization is responsible for the transportation, importation, and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana, as well as large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine.[22]. InSight Crime believes that this could explain why the Sinaloa cartel has left Snchez Arellano as the figurehead, since it might be too costly for El Chapo financially and politically to make a final push. From the mountains of. Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero says she understands that many residents do take their cues from the cartels, and she is determined to change that. In the days since the attacks, military reinforcements have been sent into Tijuana to bolster security. Mexican authorities claim El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel was behind the killings after video footage showed them interrogating rival members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC) days earlier. Today, the CJNG appears to have done so but at a terrible cost. Both cartels emerged from the disbanded that began with the dissolution of the Guadalajara Cartel. Here, InSight Crime zeroes in on the main regions in which CJNG operates and the resistance they face: In the Golden Triangle -- a crucial drug-producing region composed of the states of Sinaloa and Durango, as well as large parts of Chihuahua -- the Sinaloa Cartel continues to be the major criminal player. Cartel henchmen set up roadblocks throughout Baja California and the government imposed a curfew. Borja Vilalta-Castellanos, 36 . "Because they gained what they were seeking: to have a lot of problems and fear in the population. The animosity between the two groups has been brimming since the last season. This group reportedly arosein 2017 when several gangs dedicated to oil theft banded together to stop the CJNG's incursions into Guanajuato, Quertaro and Hidalgo. It's easy for politicians to say the violence is just gangs fighting each other, she said, when there were other indicators of problems like homicides being more common in poorer neighborhoods, and rates remaining stubbornly high for women. [44] He pleaded guilty to money laundering and is serving 15 years. The Arellano Flix family has seven brothers: They also have four sisters, of whom Alicia and Enedina are most active in the cartel's affairs. SAN DIEGO - An indictment was unsealed today in federal court charging 60 members of a San Diego-based international methamphetamine distribution network tied to the Sinaloa Cartel with drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms offenses. [30], On November 5, 2011, Mexican troops arrested cartel lieutenant Francisco Sillas Rocha,[31] who was reported to be the cartel's number two leader,[31] and some of his close associates. The squad discovered that Benjamin Arellano Felix was hiding at a safehouse in Puebla with his henchman Charalito, and Conrado Higuera Sol - now operational director of the federal police - oversaw the operation that led to Arellano Felix's capture. Police stand guard as people take part in the peaceful rally outside the military base. The rise of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacin CJNG), after its split from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010, was rapid. Tijuana residents take part in a peaceful rally outside a military base during a visit by Mexico's president. Updated on: August 13, 2022 / 7:59 AM / AFP A member of the National Guard pats down a driver who was stopped at a checkpoint in the Gran Tenochtitlan neighborhood in Tijuana. [16] Moreover, the Tijuana cartel charges a toll ("piso") on the Sinaloa cartel for trafficking drugs in their territory, which serves as an illustration of the Tijuana cartel's continued hegemony as a local group. Checkpoints have been set up in some areas and troops can be seen stopping and inspecting cars close to where one of the vehicles was set on fire last Friday. SEE ALSO: The Slow Death of Mexico's Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel. In 1989, the ambitious Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin Guzman Loera approached the brothers Benjamin and Ramon Arellano Felix, the leaders of the Tijuana Cartel, and offered to work with them in the drug trade. A member of the National Guard pats down a driver who was stopped at a checkpoint in the Gran Tenochtitlan neighborhood in Tijuana. There are several Mexican-folk (norteo) ballads (narco-corridos) that narrate the Tijuana cartel exploits. There is no region where the CJNG can be said to enjoy total dominance but there are zones where it has consolidated its position as the most powerful criminal actor. Its a peace that is totally at the discretion of criminal groups. El Chapo. Their protection strategy and preparations have been described as "paramilitary in nature" by Mexican enforcement officials. In 2018 he was part of a team of reporters who shared a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism. Authorities hope the arrests prove they are in control and that they make people feel safe. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador addressed last weeks violence during a pre-scheduled visit to Tijuana Friday. According toscar Balderas, a Mexican journalist and expert in organized crime, Tamaulipas is divided between the Northeast Cartel (Cartel del Noreste)and the New Blood Zetas (Zetas Sangre Nueva), as well as the remnants of the Gulf Cartel. Toya Sarno Jordan for NPR "Puerto Vallarta is completely theirs," Balderas said. Felbab-Brown has studied the difference between how each cartel operates. That was way the Arellano Felix brothers operation included other clans in Tijuana, San Diego and Los Angeles. Tijuana, city, northwestern Baja California estado (state), northwestern Mexico. News study outlines air pollution from Tijuana sewage, Art Show: 'The Possibility of Something Happening', MASTERPIECE CLASSIC: The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, Current rainy season could be a drought buster, forecaster says, Settlement reached in Tijuana sewage lawsuit, Brittney Griner urges the return of U.S. detainees abroad at NAACP Image Awards, Washington state attorney general says FDA rules on abortion drug are unreasonable, An Arizona driver is in custody after crashing into bicycling group, killing 2, How Cardiff's new farmers market may help keep small farms in business, San Diego officials work to stop elephant poaching. Many others in Tijuana felt the same, and despite assurances of safety from local authorities, the normally bustling border city was eerily quiet on Saturday. El Crtel de Tijuana y El Crtel del Golfo. Following Netos advice, Chapo removes Palma to a different prison, effectively asserting control over the prison and a resurgent Sinaloa. The two men met up with their contact, Carlos Tirado Lizarraga, who told them about the situation; they were unaware that Tirado had lured them into a trap at the behest of Guzman, who had ordered the kidnapping of Tirado's sister to force him into betraying his boss. Despite all of the evidence that shows us that this military deployment is not an effective strategy, it has remained at the centerpiece of the Mexican federal governments response to crime and violence, she added. Chris Arturo Pichardo contributed to this report. hide caption. In early May 2020, Faras lvarez called on vigilante groups in four municipalities to unite and resist the "invasion" by the CJNG. While both resort to violence, the Sinaloa Cartel is viewed as more professional. "If the CJNG does happen to act with authority in Mexico City, authorities immediately crack down," Balderas said. Tijuana Cartel - za siedzib tej organizacji uznaje si miasto na granicy ze Stanami Zjednoczonymi, Tijuan, znajdujc si w pnocno-wschodnim stanie Baja California. "And I cannot allow a cartel to rule my citizens. The Tijuana Cartel, also known as the Arellano - Flix Organization is a Mexican drug cartel operating out of Tijuana, Baja California. [52] The story does not end here. Police stand guard as people take part in the peaceful rally outside the military base. During the parade, Guzman and Zambada observed Arellano and Alambra from a rooftop, watching through binoculars as they waded through the crowd. The sun sets in Tijuana, Baja California, on the border with San Diego. Founded by the Arellano-Flix family, the cartel once was described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico". What's more, this model of sending in the National Guard might not do much to calm residents who are resigned to violence. The drug cartels had flexed their power in Tijuana in a way not seen for more than a decade and reignited fear and debate over who is it that really wields influence in the country: the government or the gangs. "Work is underway," he said from inside. In the 1990s, the Tijuana Cartel decided to expand their market opportunities in Colombia, exchanging drugs for weapons. La guerra entre los Arellano Flix y el grupo del Chapo no tard en desatarse, explica InSight Crime. Unfortunately, what we have seen over the past 10 to 15 years is a lot of repetition of the same go-to strategies, which consists largely of military deployment, said Stephanie Brewer, Director for Mexico at the Washington Office on Latin America, or WOLA. The organization has a reputation for extreme violence. The Tijuana Cartel has lost power but is growing more alliances in foreign countries.[46][53]. If one group or the other sees a weakness it will attack," he said, noting that. Toya Sarno Jordan for NPR In January 2019, InSight Crime named the CJNG one of its "Criminal Winners" for 2018, based on its territorial presence, its income from cocaine and synthetic drug trafficking, its control of port infrastructure and its ability to launder money.