MEXICO CITY — It has the drugs and distribution system of a traditional cartel — and it has the modern weapons and audacity of an army.
After attacking federal forces, downing a military helicopter and shutting down streets in Mexico’s second-largest city last week, the New Generation Jalisco cartel is now the main enemy in the country’s fight with drug cartels.
In just a few years, New Generation has grown from being an offshoot of the powerful Sinaloa cartel to one of Mexico’s strongest criminal groups in its own right, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, whose Office of Foreign Assets Control maintains a “black list” of drug trafficking organizations.
Its quick rise reflects a rapidly changing organized-crime landscape in Mexico as the government targets top leaders of established cartels. More than any other criminal group, New Generation has taken advantage of the government’s top-capo strategy, strengthening and grabbing territory from other cartels as they are weakened.
“You’re talking about a powerful, large organization with grand logistics, well-made structures, a strong group of assassins, and dedicated and qualified people with high-caliber weaponry,” said Guillermo Valdes, a security expert and former director of the Mexican intelligence agency. “It’s a new cartel, a second generation born in a restructuring process.”
The strategy of hitting top leadership began in 2006 under President Felipe Calderon and has continued under his successor, Enrique Peña Nieto. As a result, large organizations have been fragmented, leaving smaller, leaderless groups to fight among themselves.
When Calderon was in office, there were five major cartels. Today, the Mexican attorney general lists nine major groups and 43 smaller factions.
Jalisco Gov. Aristoteles Sandoval told Mexican media on Wednesday that he warned the federal government more than a year ago that its attacks on a rival cartel, the Knights Templar, would strengthen New Generation, but the reaction by authorities was insufficient.
