DEA Targets CJNG Operations, Seizing a Million Counterfeit Pills and 77,000 Kilograms of their Drugs in Five Days

WASHINGTON – Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced the results of a week-long operational surge aimed at dismantling the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations in the world. Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February by the Trump Administration, CJNG is a significant threat to public safety, public health, and national security. CJNG is responsible for flooding the United States with deadly fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin to fuel addiction, overdoses, and violence in communities across the United States. “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,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “Let this serve as a warning: DEA will not relent. Working side by side with our state, local, tribal, and federal partners, and through the Homeland Security Task Force, DEA is committed to these partnerships to take the fight directly to designated terrorist organizations. Every arrest, every seizure, and every dollar stripped from CJNG represents lives saved and communities protected. This focused operation is only the beginning—we will carry this fight forward together until this threat is defeated.” From September 22 through September 26, 2025, DEA agents across 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign regions carried out coordinated enforcement actions that resulted in:

• Arrests: 670
• Drug Seizures:
• 92.4 kilograms of fentanyl powder,
• 1,157,672 counterfeit pills,
• 6,062 kilograms of methamphetamine,
• 22,842 kilograms of cocaine, and
• 33 kilograms of heroin
• Currency Seizures: $18,644,105
• Assets Seized: $29,694,429
• Firearms: 244

CJNG operates globally, with tens of thousands of members, associates, and facilitators in at least 40 countries. The cartel is responsible for the production, manufacturing, and distribution of synthetic drugs, as well as the violence and corruption that accompany their operations. DEA is committed to taking down CJNG’s command, control, and distribution networks and the continued pursuit of CJNG co-founder and leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho. He remains one of DEA’s most wanted fugitives and the subject of a reward of up to $15 Million under the U.S. Department of State Narcotics Rewards Program. DEA’s efforts are part of a larger whole-of-government approach to dismantling transnational criminal organizations and protecting U.S. communities. By working closely with the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) and other federal partners, DEA is ensuring that current and future operations align with broader U.S. efforts to combat designated terrorist organizations and transnational organized crime.