La Nueva Familia Michoacana is a criminal organization formed in 2011 after the original

La Familia Michoacana La Familia Michoacana, (English: ''The Michoacán Family'') La Familia (English: ''The Family''), or LFM is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts o ...

lost power in 2010 with the formation of the

Knights Templar Cartel The Knights Templar Cartel (Spanish: ''Los Caballeros Templarios'') was a Mexican criminal organization originally composed of the remnants of La Familia Michoacana drug cartel based in the Mexican State of Michoacán. The Knights Templar Ca ...

and

Nazario Moreno Nazario may refer to * Ronaldo Nazario (born 1976), Brazilian former footballer * Nazario (given name) * Nazario (surname) * Nazário, a municipality in Brazil * Nazario Collection, a cache of carved stones at Guayanilla, Puerto Rico *San Nazario, V ...

's suspected death (he was not proven dead until 2014 with a DNA test). It is dedicated to drug trafficking and battling the

CJNG The Jalisco New Generation Cartel ( es, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación) or CJNG, formerly known as ''Los Mata Zetas'', is a Paramilitary, semi-militarized Mexican drug cartel, Mexican criminal group based in Jalisco which is headed by Nem ...

criminal organization out of

Tierra Caliente ''Tierra caliente'' is an informal term used in Latin America to refer to places with a distinctly tropical climate. These are usually regions from sea level from 0–3,000 feet.Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein Bi ...

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

and

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

. Many of its leaders have been arrested for threatening and blackmailing people on social media. La Nueva Familia Michoacana operates in the southern areas of Mexico.

Social media threats

In 2019, a leader from the cell called ''El Zarco'' threatened ''

El Mencho Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (; born 17 July 1966 or 17 July 1964), commonly referred to by his alias El Mencho (), is a Mexican drug lord and leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an organized crime group based in Jalisco. He is ...

'' by telling him they were going to kill his

hitmen Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

by the

Balsas River The Balsas River (Spanish Río Balsas, also locally known as the Mezcala River, or Atoyac River) is a major river of south-central Mexico. The basin flows through the states of Guerrero, México, Morelos, and Puebla. Downstream of Ciudad Al ...

. The threat went viral that a few weeks later CJNG members threatened to assassinate El Zarco.

Sanctions

In November 2022, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

sanctioned La Nueva Familia Michoana and its alleged leaders Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga pursuant to . The Treasury alleges the group is implicated in a mix of criminal and drug trafficking activities, including the cultivation of

opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamen ...

and U.S. distribution of

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

and, in an emerging trend, “rainbow”

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...

(pills and powders whose bright colors, shapes, and sizes are marketed to young users).

References

{{reflist Organized crime groups in Mexico Mexican drug war La Familia Michoacana