DOJ takes new aim at violent Mexican drug cartel CJNG; 250 arrests in the U.S.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department outlined a far-flung strike against the violent Mexican Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, announcing the Wednesday arrests of 250 cartel operatives and leaders whose drug trafficking organization has flooded the U.S. with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, officials said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration operation, dubbed Project Python, is part of a six-month campaign against the cartel known as CJNG that has netted a total of 750 arrests and seizures of $20 million.

“Project Python marks the most comprehensive action to date ... to disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately destroy CJNG,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski said Wednesday, casting the cartel as "one of the highest-priority, transnational organized crime threats we face."

Drug Enforcement Administration chief Uttam Dhillon, whose agency has led the government enforcement actions, said the months-long effort represented just the first phase of the government crackdown.

"This is just the beginning," Dhillon said.

Benczkowski described CJNG is one of the fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico, and among the most prolific methamphetamine producers in the world, with major distribution hubs in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta.

"At the same time, CJNG has contributed to a catastrophic trail of human and physical destruction in Mexico," Benczkowski said. "It is the most well-armed cartel in Mexico. Its members willingly confront rival cartels and even the security forces of the Mexican government."

Led by Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," the cartel is the focus of hundreds of U.S. trafficking investigations involving all of the DEA's field offices in the U.S.

The State Department has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to El Mencho's arrest, one of the largest sums posted for a drug kingpin.

The Wednesday enforcement action comes after federal authorities have taken their fight to El Mencho's inner circle.

Last month, El Mencho’s son and top lieutenant, Ruben "Menchito" Oseguera Gonzalez, was extradited from Mexico to the United States on drug trafficking and firearm charges. And Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, the cartel leader's daughter, was arrested in Washington, D.C., on charges of providing support to the cartel.