The death of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes broke the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, one of the most dangerous drug cartels in North America.
There is no denying the satisfaction of seeing terrorists like El Mencho meet his end.
But to save American lives, we need to focus less on people and more on money.
Absent continued pressure from Mexico and the United States, the CJNG will adapt, diversify and revive its large illegal empire.
Cartels are not built on individual personalities, but on networks full of actors, organizations and power operators.
When one leader dies, hundreds can compete to take his place.
In addition, a leader is not needed at all: Drug companies have evolved in recent decades from struggling organizations to loose organizations of financial players who want to make a profit by doing what no legitimate business is willing to do.
Cartels are not just criminal organizations – they are transnational businesses.
Their real centers of gravity are not individual leaders but financial networks, transport systems and pipelines of corruption, all of which are supported and reinforced by special attack units and a strong regional military presence that opposes those smaller countries.
The CJNC is responsible for importing large amounts of drugs into the country, but its businesses are widespread and diverse, profiting from human trafficking, illegal logging, racketeering, illegal oil sales and much more.
Through the legal companies they control and the politicians they bribe, they consolidate their power over many communities.
Earlier this month, the US Department of the Treasury approved a network of CJNC-controlled entities that include companies that manage hotels, real estate, tourism and sports.
While CJNC is the most powerful car in Mexico, other players are eager to step into its shoes or expand their territories.
That includes the CJNC’s main rival, the Sinaloa cartel, and smaller regional players like La Nueva Familia Michoana, which controls the port of Lazaro Cardenas – a center for both legal trade and fentanyl and meth precursors.
Under El Mencho, CJNG evolved into a global criminal enterprise with operations in more than 40 countries including North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
It also (unlike earlier companies) combined drug trafficking with military power, territorial governance and complex financial and money laundering networks.
In Mexico, the CJNG was a large operation, with a sprawling structure and presence in 27 of the country’s 32 states.
Although El Mencho’s death may lead to fragmentation – and will likely involve more wars and bloodshed – more and more fragmented cells will not reduce the flow of drugs into America.
And tracking those drugs can be very difficult, involving new players that are difficult to identify.
Decapitation is not enough.
President Donald Trump has shown his willingness to use economic power as a tool for national security.
Now he must expand that approach to help Mexico dismantle the CJNG’s financial and organizational infrastructure — and the dirty lawyers, accountants and lobbyists who make it possible.
His administration could also help crack down on China’s money-laundering operations in North America that allow the seamless flow of drugs back into the country, as well as the shell companies in Mexico and the US that continue to legalize illegal substances.
The Department of Finance should accelerate sanctions targeting the next CJNG leadership and financial facilitators, while the Department of State should coordinate with allies to stop the cartel’s assets around the world.
The Commerce Department should enforce export controls that prevent cartels from acquiring drone technology, encrypted communications and financial instruments.
The USMCA trade agreement also provides leverage that Trump can use as an economic and security tool.
Secure supply chains require a secure environment, and the control of the cartage of ports like Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas presents a direct threat to the integration of the North American economy.
Washington should add anti-drug measures to the USMCA, which requires improved port security, financial transparency and strengthened anti-corruption.
The tariff threats that force Mexican action against El Mencho can be matched with good motives – with exclusive trade access dependent on the dismantling of corporate financial networks.
As Trump has rightly observed, cartels operate as hybrid actors who control space, undermine governance, corrupt institutions and exploit globalization to expand their reach.
El Mencho’s death represents an unusual disruption to one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the Western Hemisphere.
But cartels are flexible, emerging quickly in response to the loss of leadership to keep the profits flowing.
To dismantle them, the United States and Mexico need more than military action: They need to dismantle many of the illegal revenue streams that make the drug trade so profitable in the first place.
Elaine Dezenski is senior director and head of the Center for Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Jonathan Earles is a researcher and member of FDD’s National Security Network.
