THE NEW FACE OF CJNG IN MEXICO

The National Counterterrorism Center's new public profile on CJNG is a valuable step in helping policymakers, researchers, and the public better understand one of the world's most powerful transnational criminal organizations. Condensing an organization as complex as CJNG into a public-facing profile is no easy task, and the report succeeds in providing an accessible overview.

That said, I see several areas where the organizational picture could be refined.

Rather than viewing CJNG as a traditional hierarchical organization, I believe it is better understood as a network of semi-autonomous regional power centers connected through mutual interests, shared resources, and strategic coordination. Even during Ruben Oseguera Cervantes ("Mencho")'s leadership, many regional commanders exercised significant operational independence. That decentralized structure helps explain the organization's resilience and why leadership decapitation alone has often produced less disruption than expected.

I also believe the geographic footprint deserves a broader treatment. States such as Zacatecas, Chiapas, and Quintana Roo have become strategically important, while characterizing CJNG as having exclusive control of the Port of Manzanillo oversimplifies what has long been a contested criminal environment involving multiple organizations and competing interests.
Finally, any discussion of CJNG's current leadership should recognize the importance of influential regional commanders who have shaped the organization's operational capabilities across Mexico. Understanding those networks is just as important as identifying the individuals at the very top.
Public intelligence products necessarily simplify complex realities.

I've spent years investigating CJNG and its leadership, I view this profile as an excellent starting point, but not the final word. The more accurately we understand how these organizations actually function, the better equipped we are to develop effective strategies to counter them.

I'd be interested in hearing the perspectives of others who have studied or worked against transnational organized crime.