The rise of one of Mexico’s many criminal groups, CJNG

Continuing from the last book review, we are again going into the criminal underworld that is Mexican Cartels. Suppose you haven’t been living under a rock for the first half of 2025 since January, President Trump has had two things at the top of his agenda: securing the southern border and going after Mexican cartels, designating multiple cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. In today’s modern Mexican drug war landscape, there is one group whose name keeps popping up: Cartel Jaisco Nueva Generacion, or CJNG for short. Most people have probably seen the video of a Mexican helicopter being shot down by an American 50-caliber that was the CJNG. To give a visual of how big and transnational this criminal group is, it has a presence on every single continent except Antarctica. This comes from a DEA agent and is in 54 countries worldwide!. They have also aligned with the Los Chapitos faction against the Mayo Flaco faction of the Sinaloa cartel, who have been engaged in a brutal civil war since September.

In Chris Dalby’s book, CJNG: A Quick Guide to Mexico’s Deadliest Cartel, he chronicles the origins of the mileno cartel to the rise of the CJNG, the many wars they fought on their rise to the top of the Mexican drug world, and their money laundering operations, the role in methamphetamine and fentanyl production and trafficking, other ways they make money and their presence in other states in Mexico and the Americas. The book is a very informative guide to understanding the biggest player in Mexico and is an actual truthful source, unlike what is coming out of the mouths of politicians and media, who have no clue what they're talking about. I enjoyed the book and recommend it. Chris Dalby also has a new book that just came out about Tren de Aragua, a group that dominated the 2024 presidential election. He also has a Substack where you can follow his work. Subscribe if you liked the review, so you don’t miss any in the future!.