The Milenio Cartel, or Cártel de los Valencia (Valencia family Cartel), was a Mexican criminal organization based in Michoacán. It relocated to Jalisco in the early 2000s. The

Jalisco New Generation Cartel The Jalisco New Generation Cartel ( es, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación) or CJNG, formerly known as ''Los Mata Zetas'', is a semi-militarized Mexican criminal group based in Jalisco which is headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Me ...

was born from the splintering of the Milenio Cartel.

History

The Milenio cartel first appeared in the late 1970s when the Valencia family, an avocado farmer family from Tamaulipas, started to grow cannabis and opium poppy in Jalisco and Michoacan and began selling these drugs to bigger cartels. By the mid 1990s they had close connections with Colombian traffickers like

Fabio Ochoa Vásquez Fabio Ochoa Vásquez (born May 2, 1957) is a former leading member of the Medellín cocaine trafficking cartel, along with his older brothers Juan David and Jorge Luis. His role briefly made him a billionaire. After serving a brief prison te ...

of the Medellin cartel and by the early 2000s they were working with synthetic drugs provided by

Zhenli Ye Gon Zhenli Ye Gon (born January 31, 1963 in Shanghai) is a Chinese-Mexican businessman currently under suspicion of trafficking pseudoephedrine or ephedrine precursor chemicals into Mexico from Asia. He is the owner and legal representative of Un ...

. By this time the cartel had taken several hits from the government, like the 2003 capture of their leader Armando Valencia Cornelio. In order to protect their structure the new leader, Óscar Orlando Nava Valencia, associated with the

Sinaloa cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...

, the ''Milenio cartel'' became a branch of what was known as ''the Sinaloa federation'', under the direct orders of Ignacio Coronel Villarreal. Luis Valencia Valencia and Óscar Nava Valencia took control of the cartel after the arrest of Armando Valencia Cornelio on August 15, 2003. The cartel operated in at least six Mexican states: Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco, Mexico City, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, where it produced marijuana and heroin. Another relative and close associate was Oscar Nava Valencia. On October 28, 2009, Oscar Nava Valencia (''El Lobo'') was captured after a gun battle with

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...

troops in the municipality of Tlajomulco de Zuniga, Jalisco. Oscar Nava and his brother, Juan Nava Valencia, were responsible for the planning and smuggling of cocaine shipments from South and Central America to the port of

Manzanillo, Colima Manzanillo () is a city and seat of Manzanillo Municipality, in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port, responsible for handling Pacific cargo for the Mexico City area. It is the large ...

from where it was smuggled into the United States. After the arrest of Oscar Nava Valencia, his brother Juan Carlos Nava Valencia took over the leadership of the ''Milenio cartel'' until May 6, 2010 when he was arrested in Guadalajara during an operation by the Mexican Army.

Fracture

With the 2009 capture of Óscar Nava Valencia, leader of the ''Milenio cartel'', and the death of Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, of the ''Sinaloa cartel federation'', a power vacuum emerged. The ''Milenio'' broke into smaller factions, most notably La Resistencia, headed by Ramiro Pozos ''El Molca,'' and the

(CJNG), headed by Nemesio Oseguera ''El Mencho'', and started a turf war for the control of the region. La Resistencia formed a brief alliance with

Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate, regarded as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscr ...

, the CJNG reunited with the Sinaloa cartel, and other remnants of the ''milenio'' that splintered from the

Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...

went independent and reached a working agreement with

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 ...

. However, when la Familia was disbanded in 2011, the Milenio Cartel relocated to Guadalajara and forged a loose alliance with a faction of Los Zetas Cartel. Although some Valencia/Milenio factions were at war with the CJNG, the core of the Valencia family is related with El Mencho, the CJNG leader, due to El Mencho's wife being a Valencia, the remnants of the Milenio gang currently form under the CJNG wing known as "Los Cuinis". On January 29, 2011, Oscar Nava Valencia was extradited to the United States to face charges of conspiracy and drug trafficking in the Southern District of Texas. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison on January 8, 2014.

References

{{Mexican Drug War Organizations established in 1999 1999 establishments in Mexico Organizations disestablished in 2012 2012 disestablishments in Mexico Disbanded Mexican drug cartels Mexican drug war Transnational organized crime Organized crime groups in the United States Gangs in California Gangs in Maryland Gangs in North Carolina Gangs in Oregon Gangs in Texas

History

Fracture

See also

References