by Blanka Kadengo
The fall of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is not the end of the story for Mexico.
For many political analysts, it is merely the first act.
In Washington, while Mexico was still trying to understand what had happened after the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, disturbing signs began to circulate: the operation that ended with the death of the country’s most wanted drug lord was not the end, but rather one piece in a much larger investigation. An investigation that could reach Mexican politicians from MORENA and other political parties.
At very high levels.
The pressure began with a direct message from US President Donald Trump, who reacted publicly to the events in Mexico with a phrase that landed like a diplomatic warning: the Mexican effort against the cartels “is not enough.”
Three words that carry a precise meaning in Washington.
This is just the beginning. Political sources and security analysts maintain that behind the operation that led to the capture and subsequent death of the CJNG leader lies a broader case that has been developing for years within U.S. agencies.
A case that is not limited to drug trafficking as a criminal enterprise, but points to something more delicate: the links between cartels and Mexican political structures.
According to various testimonies and analyses emerging from intelligence circles, the United States’ strategy has focused on two key organizations: the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel. Both groups have been considered for years as the pillars of the drug trafficking network that supplies the U.S. market.
But the objective would not only be to capture the leaders.
The objective would be to build larger legal cases.
Much larger. Since 2023, according to public statements by the then-administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Anne Milgram, U.S. agencies had already infiltrated these criminal organizations. This intelligence work would have allowed for the monitoring of communications, logistical routes, financial movements, and political protection networks.
For years.
With patience.
With satellites, wiretaps, and financial analysis. Also with the support of other US agencies such as the National Security Agency, which specializes in intercepting communications globally, and geospatial intelligence structures capable of mapping movements and patterns within territories dominated by organized crime.
This type of technology not only detects where a target is.
It also reveals who is protecting them.
And that’s where things get uncomfortable.
Because the massive dossier being built—according to analysts close to Washington—doesn’t only target criminal leaders, but what some call the true system that allowed their growth: the network of political protection.
The so-called NARCO-POLITICIANS.
The hypothesis circulating in intelligence circles is that the international trial against the corrupt Venezuelan regime headed by Nicolás Maduro has opened a regional line of investigation into the connection between organized crime, illicit financial networks, and political structures in Latin America.
A line of investigation that could reach Mexico.
In this scenario, a key piece emerges.
The fall of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was not the end of the story.
For some, it was merely the first act.
In Washington, while Mexico was still trying to understand what had happened after the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, disturbing signs began to circulate: the operation that ended with the death of the country’s most wanted drug lord was not an end point, but rather a piece within a much larger investigation.
An investigation that could reach Mexican politicians.
At very high levels.
The pressure began with a direct message from US President Donald Trump, who reacted publicly to the events in Mexico with a phrase that landed like a diplomatic warning: the Mexican effort against the cartels “is not enough.”
Three words that carry a precise meaning in Washington.
This is just the beginning.
Political sources and security analysts maintain that behind the operation that led to the capture—and subsequent death—of the CJNG leader lies a broader case that has been under construction for years within US agencies.
A case that is not limited to drug trafficking as a criminal enterprise, but points to something more delicate.
A witness.
According to reports circulated by analysts and political commentators, during the operation that dismantled part of the CJNG leadership, one of the kingpin’s sons, known informally as “El Menchito,” was also captured alive.
If this detainee ends up being extradited to the United States, he could become more than just a prisoner.
He could become a cooperating witness.
In U.S. federal courts, a protected witness can completely transform a criminal case.
Because prosecutors aren’t just looking for drug traffickers. They’re looking for networks.
They’re looking for financing.
They’re looking for institutional protection.
They’re looking for names.
In Washington, this logic is nothing new.
It already happened with other kingpins who ended up testifying about their ties to authorities and politicians in different countries.
In many cases, those statements ended up revealing structures that had remained hidden for decades.
That’s why the pressure hasn’t let up.
For some observers in the U.S. capital, the downfall of the CJNG leader represents just one piece in a legal process that could extend for years.
A process that includes financial investigations, analysis of logistical networks, and international cooperation.
All within a broader strategy against the cartels.
And against those who protect them.
In Mexico, meanwhile, the political debate has intensified. The security strategy known as “hugs, not bullets,” championed by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is once again being questioned by sectors that believe it allowed criminal organizations to flourish in recent years.
Others, however, maintain that the problem is deeper and that drug-related violence cannot be resolved solely through military operations.
The problem is structural.
Meanwhile, intelligence cooperation between Mexico and the United States appears to have intensified. U.S. officials have confirmed that during the operation against the CJNG cartel, there was an exchange of strategic information, including geospatial analysis of the terrain, interception of communications, and financial profiling of the criminal organization.
This type of cooperation, however, is usually handled discreetly, especially in Mexico.
The reason is simple: the direct presence of U.S. agencies in operations within Mexican territory has always been a politically sensitive issue.
Therefore, officially, Washington insists that the operation was carried out by Mexican forces, although they acknowledge that intelligence collaboration took place.
A diplomatic formula. But behind that formula, the pressure continues.
Because for the U.S. government, the downfall of a kingpin isn’t enough.
It never is.
What they’re seeking now, according to analysts, is something more complex: to completely dismantle the financial, logistical, and political networks that sustain the cartels.
That includes companies, intermediaries, arms trafficking routes, money laundering, and eventually, political connections.
That’s where the story could become explosive.
Because if a member of the kingpin’s family decides to speak in a U.S. court, the case could expand into unexpected territories.
And to names that today seem untouchable.
For now, everything remains part of an incomplete puzzle.
The investigations advance silently.
The files pile up.
And in U.S. federal courts, every testimony could change the course of history.
Editorial by Blanka Kadengo, posted on Felix Carrillo Quintero Facebook page.
