The media of India has reported activity of Mexico’s Jalisco-based CJNG (Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación) in the territory of that Asian country.
On October 30th, The Times of India reported this: “The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said it recently busted a methamphetamine laboratory in Greater Noida and seized 95 kg of the contraband worth several crores. The lab, in Kasana industrial area of Gautam Budh Nagar, was being run by a west Delhi businessman and a Tihar jail warden, with a Mumbai-based chemist ‘cooking’ the drug. If that doesn’t recall the American TV series ‘Breaking Bad’, there’s more. NCB said the lab was linked to an infamous Mexican drug cartel, and one of its members oversaw ‘quality control’ at the lab.”
The businessman and warden had gotten together when the former was incarcerated at the latter’s prison for a previous drug-related offense.
“NCB said this Delhi-based syndicate, which produced synthetic drugs for export and domestic consumption, was linked to Mexico’s ‘CJNG’ cartel…CJNG — Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion — has been looking to expand in South Asia, India in particular, NCB said.“
This is not the first India drug bust with a CJNG connection.
“The latest operation comes eight months after NCB busted another meth lab in Feb and arrested nine people, including three Mexican chemists, or ‘cooks’…The cartel operated across Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Rajasthan, and internationally in Dubai, and counted Indians, Mexicans, Canadians and British citizens among its members.“
On November 2nd, an opinion piece by Dr. G Shreekumar Menon, on India’s News 18 website was entitled Mexican Drug Cartels Gaining Foothold In India Should Ring Alarm Bells .
Dr. Menon wrote this: “The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 29 revealed that it had busted a clandestine methamphetamine manufacturing laboratory with links to a major Mexican drug cartel operating out of an industrial area in Greater Noida and arrested five people, including a Mexican national sent by the cartel – Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, who was arrested along with a Mumbai-based chemist, and a Tihar jail warder. The arrested Mexican national was sent to India to set up the factory and ensure the purity of the manufactured drug before exporting it. He had come to India on a tourist visa earlier this year and was living on rent at a housing society in Noida. NCB conducted a search operation in a factory in Kasana Industrial Area, Gautam Budh Nagar district, on October 25, 2024, and found about 95 kg of methamphetamine in solid and liquid forms. Chemicals like acetone, sodium hydroxide, methylene chloride, premium grade ethanol, toluene, red phosphorus, ethyl acetate, etc, and imported machinery for manufacturing were also found.”
“As the global demand for cocaine and other synthetic drugs is on the rise, drug cartels in Mexico, such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), are creating a global network of criminal enterprises to control the global drug trade. As a response, some US lawmakers have called for a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of the Mexican drug cartels.”
More recently, on November 25th, the Indian Coast Guard, in its biggest seizure ever, seized 5,500 kilograms of crystalline methamphetamine, near Barren Island, an Indian territory southeast of the Indian mainland. It was seized from a Myanmarese fishing trawler enroute to Thailand.
An Indian defense official had this to say: “Based on the quantity of the consignments and the modus operandi it definitely seems like the handiwork of notorious drug cartels like Jalisco New Generation Cartel (run by El Mencho) and Chinese El Chapo gang leaders. In 2019, we seized similar drugs from the Andaman sea and then El Mencho’s cartel emerged as a key suspect.”
This is so sad. Most of my life of knowing Mexico the people were too poor to be worthwhile hooking on drugs. Now that drugs have gotten cheaper and people a bit wealthier these soulless drug dealers now prey upon the poor. I pray something can be done to stop this,