Mexico’s most brutal cartel has formed an alliance with another gang to try and wipe out El Chapo’s criminal outfit, foreign media reports.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel [CJNG] – which has rapidly expanded across the country – has made its presence known in the northern state of Chihuahua in recent weeks.
In a new wave of violence, its victims have been beheaded and one police officer was set on fire.
CJNG members held a meeting with La Linea – the enforcer unit of the Juarez Cartel – and agreed to join forces against the Sinaloa Cartel, El Heraldo de Chihuahua reports.
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The gang was led by El Chapo until his extradition and imprisonment last year.
Leadership has since fallen to Chapo’s ex-partner Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada along with his sons Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo.
On Saturday, February 13, five of its members were killed in a shootout in Chihuahua.
The horrifying attack took place on the road that leads from Villa Coronado to Jimenez at around 3pm.
After police arrived at the scene, they discovered the decapitated heads of three of the cartel members placed on the hood of a vehicle.
Those killed are reported to have been part of the Gente Nueva group, the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The gang is under the command of the criminal leader Antonino Leon, aka El 300, and operates in the southern part of the state.
Last month, other CJNG troops vowed to oust Sinaloa Cartel members in the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas.
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A raft of different gangs, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the CJNG, and Los Zetas, are fighting for control of the territory – which offers vital trafficking routes towards the US border.
In footage released by the CJNG, the cartel members said they were part of the cartel’s “warrior group” and pledged their loyalty to leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho, Infobae reported.
Mencho, 56, an ex-police officer and former ally of El Chapo, has risen to become one of the most powerful and feared criminal figures in Mexico.
Last July, authorities estimated the gang oversaw one-third of all drugs being transported from Mexico into the US.
