US Launches Multi-Agency Effort To Target One Of Mexico's Largest Cartels - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2018) The US government has initiated a new multi-agency program to destroy the powerful Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug-smuggling organization in Mexico, the Department of Justice said in a news release.

"The United States of America, through its Departments of Justice, Treasury, and State announced today a series of measures to target and dismantle the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) - one of the largest, most dangerous drug cartels currently operating in Mexico," the release said on Tuesday.

The Justice Department explained that the measures include the unsealing of 15 indictments, the State Department's approval of large rewards, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designations and the establishment of a citizen tip-line.

"CJNG is one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico and the Department of Justice considers it to be one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world," the release said.

The CJNG is considered responsible for trafficking many tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl-laced heroin into the United States and for violence and significant loss of life in Mexico. It also operate sin Europe, Asia and Australia, the Justice Department added.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that the CJNG, which was founded in 2011, exerts influence in 23 of 31 of Mexican states, including key drug production and transportation corridors using disciplined command and control and extreme violence, according to the release.