'El Mencho' Killing A Blow To Mexican-Chinese Drug Cartel Nexus In Indian Waters: Experts

 

 

New Delhi : Following the elimination of Mexican drug lord Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” experts from India’s security establishment believe the incident might have broken a major connection between Mexican-Chinese drug kingpins who were utilising the Indian sea route to transport drugs.

According to experts, the elimination of the drug lord on Sunday helped Indian agencies fight a major drug cartel from establishing its manufacturing units in India.

“As far as the Mexico-China nexus is concerned, synthetic chemicals used for making Methamphetamine drugs are found in China and these chemicals were going to Mexico in a big way using the India sea route,” Sanjay Kumar Singh, former deputy director general (operation) of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) told ETV Bharat on Wednesday.

 

Asserting that Mexico is better known for manufacturing cocaine, Singh said, “India is not a big consumer of Mexican drugs. However, the Mexican drugs find their destination in other countries like Australia and others using the India sea route.”

Singh said that in October 2024, the NCB busted a clandestine methamphetamine manufacturing laboratory linked to a major Mexican drug cartel operating out of an industrial area in Greater Noida and arrested five people, including a Mexican national connected to Mexico's JNGC drug cartel.

Investigations revealed that the arrested Mexican national was sent to India to set up the factory and ensure the purity of the manufactured drug before exporting it.

 

The operation found about 95 kg of methamphetamine in solid and liquid forms, chemicals like acetone, sodium hydroxide, methylene chloride, premium grade ethanol, toluene, red phosphorous and ethyl acetate for manufacturing.

The senior NCB official said that Indian security agencies did not find any major availability of Mexican drugs in the country until 2023. “I was in the NCB till 2023. In fact, during my stint, I have not come across any such Mexican cartel,” Singh said.

On November 25, 2024, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) apprehended a Myanmarese fishing boat ‘Soe Wai Yan Htoo’, carrying approx. 5,500 kgs of prohibited drug Methamphetamine along with one portable Inmarsat Satellite phone in the Andaman seas.

 

An ICG Dornier aircraft, while on a reconnaissance sortie, detected a boat operating in a suspicious manner. The information was passed on to the Joint Operation Centre, which subsequently deployed a Fast Patrol Vessel from Sri Vijaya Puram to intercept the suspicious boat.

Valued at an estimated Rs 6,000 crore, the seizure provided the first concrete evidence that El Mencho’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC) had expanded its footprint into Indian waters.

Investigations revealed that JNGC used the Andaman Sea as a transit corridor to enter into the lucrative drug markets in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. Subsequent investigations into the Andaman seizure revealed a sophisticated, multi-layered alliance between Mexican and Chinese cartels.

It was found that El Mencho had allegedly built a close understanding with ‘The Company,’ a major drug cartel headed by Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese and Canadian gangster and drug cartel leader.