DEA surge against cartel turns up fentanyl, millions in cash, guns

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said Monday it seized fentanyl, fake pills, millions in cash, 244 guns, and made 670 arrests during a week-long surge aimed at dismantling the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

DEA officials described CJNG as “one of the most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations in the world.”

Agents across 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign regions carried out coordinated enforcement actions between Sept. 22 to Sept. 26. During the week-long surge, they made 670 arrests, seized 92.4 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 1.1 million counterfeit pills, 6,062 kilograms of methamphetamine, 22,842 kilograms of cocaine and 33 kilograms of heroin.

Agents also seized $18,644,105 in cash and another $29,694,429 in assets. They also seized 244 firearms.

President Donald Trump used an executive order in February to designate the CJNG and seven other groups as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Prosecutors have already used the new designation to go after fugitive cartel leaders.

“DEA is targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as what it is – a terrorist organization– at every level, from its leadership to its distribution networks and everyone in between,” DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said in a statement. “Let this serve as a warning: DEA will not relent. Every arrest, every seizure, and every dollar stripped from CJNG represents lives saved and communities protected.”

CJNG operates globally, with tens of thousands of members, associates and facilitators in at least 40 countries, according to the DEA.

Earlier this month, the DEA targeted the Sinaloa Cartel. In that surge, agents seized 480 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 714,707 counterfeit pills, 2,209 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7,469 kilograms of cocaine and 55 kilograms of heroin. On top of the drugs, agents seized more than $11 million in cash and about $1.7 million in assets. They also took 420 firearms off the street, the agency said Monday.

Trump has also designated the Sinaloa Cartel a foreign terrorist organization.

Trump has made fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, a public target of his administration.

A DEA threat report released in May said the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartels “remain the dominant threats.” The cartels have sophisticated procurement, distribution, and financial support networks that stretch across the globe to China.

The DEA threat report from May found that Mexican cartels maintain steady supply chains for precursor chemicals, primarily from China and India, needed to produce synthetic drugs such as fentanyl.