Crossing El Mencho: The Consequences Faced by Former CJNG Allies

Blood, Betrayal, and the Bench: The Brutal Collapse of El Mencho’s Inner Circle and the Rise of the Nueva Plaza Cartel

In the sun-drenched plazas of Jalisco and the rugged mountains of Michoacán, a name once whispered in terror—Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho”—has long stood as the symbol of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). For over a decade, the CJNG rose from a splinter group to a global narco-powerhouse, built on a foundation of absolute loyalty and a paramilitary ruthlessness that redefined the Mexican drug war. However, as the saying goes, empires are often destroyed from within. The history of the CJNG is not just a chronicle of territorial expansion, but a Shakespearean tragedy of betrayal, where the most trusted lieutenants and even co-founders met fates so gruesome they serve as the ultimate deterrent for the “disloyal.”

The narrative of these internal fractures reached a fever pitch in February 2026, with the reported death of El Mencho during a high-stakes military operation in Tapalpa. But to understand the chaos currently engulfing the cartel, one must look back at the bodies left on park benches and the men who chose the cold walls of a prison over the warm blood of a cartel execution.

The Spark: The Murder of “El Colombiano”

Every inferno starts with a single spark. For the CJNG, that spark was the 2017 murder of Marcos Hernandez, known as “El Colombiano.” Hernandez wasn’t a gunman; he was the cartel’s financial surgeon, the man who kept the economic machinery humming. He was also a man who had El Mencho’s ear. When Hernandez discovered that Carlos Enrique Sanchez Martinez—the high-ranking hitman known as “El Cholo”—was stealing from the organization, he did his duty and reported it.

The move was fatal. El Cholo, fearing El Mencho’s wrath, allegedly ordered the assassination of Hernandez. Whether it happened in a Puerto Vallarta parking lot or a Zapotlán street, the result was a declaration of war. El Mencho’s response was predictable: an immediate order for El Cholo’s head. But the hit failed. In failing, it didn’t silence a traitor; it birthed a rival.

The Inferno: “El Cholo” and the Nueva Plaza Cartel

Carlos Enrique Sanchez Martinez, once the right-hand man and compadre of El Mencho, became the leader of the “Nueva Plaza Cartel.” Allying himself with disillusioned CJNG co-founder Eric Valencia Salazar (“L85”), El Cholo launched a scorched-earth campaign against his former boss. The violence was staggering—mass graves, grenade attacks on the US consulate in Guadalajara, and hundreds of homicides designed to “heat up the plaza” and draw federal heat onto the CJNG.

But El Mencho’s reach was long. On March 18, 2021, the world saw the final chapter of El Cholo’s rebellion. A video surfaced of a tortured, disfigured Cholo surrounded by masked gunmen, confessing to his “crimes” against the organization. The autopsy that followed was a catalog of horrors: eyes gouged, toes amputated, ribs broken, and a tongue extracted. His body, wrapped in plastic like a discarded mannequin, was left on a park bench in Tlaquepaque with kitchen knives pinning a sign to his chest: “The Traitor El Cholo.”

The Co-Founders’ Dilemma: L85 and The Shark

The tragedy of the CJNG is perhaps best exemplified by its founders. Eric Valencia Salazar (“L85”) helped build the empire from the ground up, leading the “Mata Zetas” units. But a 2012 arrest—which many believe was orchestrated by El Mencho to eliminate a rival—poisoned the well. Upon his release in 2017, L85 joined El Cholo’s rebellion. His fate, however, was not a park bench, but the sterile corridors of the American justice system. Extradited in 2025, the man who once commanded armies is now reportedly negotiating a plea deal in a US courtroom, a quiet end to a violent life.

Then there is Alio Alejandro Pulledo Salana, “El Tiburón” (The Shark). As one of the original 2009 co-founders, he saw the fate of El Cholo and made a remarkable choice: he walked into the arms of Mexican authorities and surrendered. For a shark of the underworld, the dark safety of a prison cell was the only thing more appealing than the “tragic fate” awaiting him on the outside.

The Ghost of El Mencho: Rumors and Reality

The CJNG’s stability was always tied to the myth of El Mencho’s invincibility. In 2022, rumors of his death from cardiac arrest led to further defections, most notably by Jose Bernabé Brisuela Meraz (“La Vaca”). He declared war on his former allies, claiming the CJNG had betrayed its own principles. The resulting prison riots and street warfare turned the state of Colima into a graveyard before “La Vaca” was eventually captured in Mexico City.

The finality came on February 22, 2026. Military intelligence, reportedly tracking a romantic partner, located El Mencho in Tapalpa. The operation killed the kingpin and sparked a nationwide wave of “narcobloqueos”—highway blockades and vehicle arson orchestrated by lieutenants like “El Tuli,” who died fighting to protect his boss’s legacy.

The Succession: A Crown of Thorns

As of late 2026, the CJNG is a fractured empire. Figures like “El Jardinero” (The Gardener) and El Mencho’s stepson “El Menchito” (El 03) are vying for a throne that has proven to be a death trap. The “tragic fate” of those who came before serves as a grim roadmap for those who follow. In the world of the CJNG, power is absolute, but the cost of that power is a life lived in the shadow of the knife, the bomb, and the inevitable betrayal.

The story of the CJNG is a reminder that in the world of organized crime, there are no retirement plans—only extradition, incarceration, or a park bench in Tlaquepaque.