CJNG Arrests in Cancun Suggest Expansion to Quintana Roo as Well as to Tijuana

Borderland Beat (see blogs here under "Frontera"), a blog that covers drug trafficking in Mexico, recently reported the arrest of 14 presumed drug traffickers in Cancun (in the state of Quintana Roo), "most" of whom were thought by authorities to be recently arrived members of the Jalisco Cartel (CJNG).   The state attorney general said in a press conference that the CJNG operatives were "seeking to take over the plaza," presumably away from the Gulf Cartel.

The CJNG, which has in the past specialized in the production and distribution of methamphetamine, is reported by the Global Initiatives network to be expanding operations to Japan, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, where profits are significantly higher than in the U.S.  Unlike the Sinaloa Cartel the CJNG and their associates, Los Cuinis (said to be in-laws of Nemesio Oseguera Cárdenas (El Mencho), have targeted markets in Europe instead of the U.S. (See this report, from Borderland Beat, which summarizes a press release from the DEA, also reported in the Mexican magazine Proceso).  In addition, Global Initiatives network reports relatively longstanding associations with elements of the FARC in Colombia.