Juan Carlos Valencia González, the California-born stepson of slain Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," has emerged as the apparent new head of the organization, a succession that could complicate U.S. efforts to surveil and target him because he is an American citizen, according to a new report.
U.S. and Mexican officials say Valencia González, 41, has moved to the top of the cartel's hierarchy following Oseguera's killing last month. His rise places a U.S.-born figure at the head of one of Mexico's most powerful criminal organizations at a time when Washington and the Mexican government have intensified cooperation against cartel networks.
