Over 600 alleged members of Mexico’s Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) have been arrested in the last six months thanks to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in 2017. The crackdown effort, named “Project Python,” is an interagency operation to take a tougher stance against Mexican cartels by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The effort has lead to 600 arrests, 350 indictments and “significant seizures of money and drugs” over the past few months.
The cartel, according to the DOJ, has been active in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta.
“Project Python marks the most comprehensive action to date in the Department of Justice’s campaign to disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately destroy CJNG,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski said in a statement obtained by The Hill.
According to Benczkowski, the project was made possible by Trump’s executive order which directed federal law enforcement to use the Threat Mitigation Working Group to crack down on cartels.
“When President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing the dismantlement of transnational criminal organizations, the Department of Justice answered the call and took direct aim at CJNG. We deemed CJNG one of the highest-priority transnational organized crime threats we face,” he said. “And with Project Python, we are delivering results in the face of that threat for the American people.”
On Wednesday, the agencies also announced a superseding indictment against Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, the leader of the cartel. His son was extradited to the US from Mexico last month on drug trafficking charges. His daughter has also been arrested for financial crimes.