The Underworld Podcast - El Mencho's Heir Takes Over CJNG!

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

When Mexican special forces killed El Mencho in February 2026, the throne of Mexico's most powerful cartel was up for grabs. But there's one man who many assumed would be taking over: Juan Carlos Valencia González, a 41-year-old California-born dual citizen known as "El 03," the stepson of the slain narco boss. His cartel royalty bloodline is almost absurdly stacked, as his mother, Rosalinda González Valencia, dubbed "La Jefa," was El Mencho's wife and a key financial architect of the cartel's money laundering empire, while his uncles from the González Valencia clan were systematically arrested and extradited to the U.S. over the past decade. And his father just happened to be the founder of CJNG's predecessor, the Milenio Cartel. Now an American citizen effectively runs a terrorist-designated drug empire responsible for flooding the U.S. with fentanyl, creating a legal nightmare for U.S. intelligence agencies with limited tools to go after one of their own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast. with Benjamin Boster. If you're tired of sleepless nights, you'll love the I Can't Sleep podcast. I help quiet your mind by reading random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice.

Each episode provides enough interesting content to hold your attention, and then your mind lets you drift off. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. That's I Can't Sleep, with Benjamin Boster. August 2016 in Halisco, Mexico. It's the end of the summer, and the cartel underworld is dangling on the edge of something big.

Only a few months earlier, the unthinkable happens. El Chapo, the most infamous cartel boss in the world, is captured by Mexican forces, locked up, and then set to be extradited to the U.S. His cartel, Sinaloa, that once appeared to be unstoppable, is starting to show. cracks. And nobody knows how things will go down between the upper echelons of Sinaloa. Chappos kids slash replacements dubbed Los Chapitos and his longtime partner El Mayo Zambada. And as these things go, when a cartel starts to show weakness, or when there's even a hint of weakness suspected, the other players in the game start calculating. And waiting to make their move is a relatively

new upstart group, the Halisco new generation. Cartel, led by the shadowy and brutal Elmenschel. Descended from remnants of the millennial cartel when it fractured around 2009, the C.JNG, as it's known, are on the rise thanks to a penchant for extreme violence and a fearlessness that borders on reckless. They've been growing from a regional powerhouse into an organization that had the potential to eclipse even Sinolawa, and they are making their presence known. Only a year before, they kill 15 federal police officer in Halisco in a single ambush.

Suffice it to say, the princelings of Senaloa should be keeping their heads on a swivel. But alas, they're not. Maybe they're misinformed, or maybe when you grow up as the sons of one of the most powerful drug lords to ever exist, you just kind of feel like you can do whatever you want. That's really the only reasoning that makes any sense for why Yvonne Archivaldo, Guzman and his brother, Jesus Alfredo Guzman, would casually decide to dine at the upscale La Lecha restaurant in Puerto Vallarda, Halisco, the stronghold of their upstart cartel rivals in the C.JNG. 4.4 in Google reviews, quote, innovative Spanish inflected cuisine

with local produce in a whimsical all-white space, plus a bar. Maybe not that whimsical, because what happens there is that around midnight, seven or so mass gummen storm into the restaurant like an elite tactical unit. They quickly separate six men from the party, leaving behind a bunch of women and take their new prisoners hostage. It's all done in a couple of minutes. It's professional, to say the least. It's an incredibly bold move. Not only are they in the heart of Portoviarta's elite tour zone, but they're kidnapping the king's sons, the men who ostensibly sit atop the throne, or at the very least next to the throne, of the most powerful criminal organization in Mexico.

These men are supposed to be the next generation of Sinaloa. Some accounts say they were parting too hard, not being careful, caught lacking, as the kids would say. It's a bad look for them, and for Sinaloa. The men are held for a week. They're eventually returned, unharmed, and alive. Rumors say their release is negotiated by none other than O'Me. There's no exact details provided for how the negotiations went down or what's giving.

but some sources say that Omaio was able to kidnap one of Elmenschel's family members and basically tells them if you don't release them, we're going to kill this guy. Another rumor says O'Meo simply pays out a heavy ransom. Whatever the reason, consider the message sent. There's a new dominant force in Mexico, and they're not here to play around. Now, what's really interesting is who is allegedly the force behind that kidnapping, and that is an narco by the name of Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez, El Mentiono stepson,

a man with a pedigree like none other in Mexico's cartel world, and a decade later, the reported new head of the Halisco New Generation Cartel. As the newspaper Al-Py's reports, quote, the history of Mexican drug trafficking is written in the story of Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez. His father was a pioneer in drug,

drug smuggling, trading avocado farming and Mitchell O'Con for cocaine shipments. His mother and uncle transformed a family name into a criminal enterprise, and his stepfather was the world's most wanted drug lord, founder of an international empire. This is the underworld podcast. Welcome back to the Underworld podcast. the only audio-visual program that dares to ask the question exactly how many hour-long podcast episodes can one do on different players in Mexico's cartel underworld.

And the answer? An infinite amount, as we're going to find out today. We are a show about international organized crime created and hosted by two journalists who have done this sort of reporting all over the world. What he still does? His name is Sean Williams. He's, I don't even know if he's in Paraguay or Uruguay or whatever.

My name is Danny Gold. I'm joined by Sean. He has the record right. now for being thrown out of nightlife establishments despite never actually doing anything wrong. Sean Williams, how's it going over there, bud? Yeah, I am in Potosi, Bolivia, where I'm going to be doing something for the show, actually. And I just stepped off a night bus, which, uh, I don't know. Do you need me to tell you how good or bad a Bolivian night bus is? I mean, I have some imaginations. I've taken night buses in,

in Southeast Asia and, uh, really thought I was going to die a lot. And so it took a lot as like like over the counter Xanax. I imagine Bolivia, it's the same thing. It's the same thing, but it's at like 6,000 feet. So you just feel sick all the time. And everyone complains. It's great, actually. I love it. Yeah. You should be chewing the, don't they chew the koka leaf there to kind of get through that situation? I've been drinking a bit of koka tea. It's pretty nice. It's pretty nice. It doesn't do the job, though. I've got a permanent nose bleed and I feel like I can't breathe. It's a great trip. I don't know if that's, but do you feel maybe a little moss, a bit mas callienn?

having been in Latin America for so long now? No, no, I've stayed Dankeli and DiChiandes, which is not very much. I'm, you know, I'm not very well dressed, but I'm still awkward and just a bit sweatier. It's just your English side, dude. As always, you can support us and get ad-free listening and bonus episodes at patreon.com slash the Underworld Podcast or sign up on Spotify, Apple, even YouTube, whole library of bonus episodes, too. UnderworldPod.com for merch. some good t-shirts for you all out there getting ready for the summer and you can email us anything

tips compliments questions for life advice at the underworld podcast at gmail dot com only compliments do not email us insults we will respond uh with our own insults and we're we're not we've been doing this for a living we get we're like uh like it's like when heckler is like heckle a comedian on stage like we we deal with this you know like we'll fire back now as you listen to this episode I want you to reflect on how often this podcast does actually include lots of finance business type information. So maybe if like other finance business podcasts are selling for hundreds of millions of dollars or charging millions of dollars for ad buys, we are basically, we're that.

Except sometimes like stuff gets blowing up and people get murdered and there are bricks of illicit substances moving all over the place. But basically, at its heart, this podcast is about finance, money, business, and our worth should reflect that. Now, let's catch up with the incredibly financially successful, though now dead El Mentiono and his international market-dominant corporation, the C.J&G Halisco New Generation, and the trillion-dollar market of Mexico's cartel world.

It really feels like the story has kind of fallen by the wayside as other drug war battles in Latin America have exploded in places like Ecuador and Sebastian Marcette getting bagged out in Bolivia, geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, and Cuba has taken center stage, but there is still a lot going on. It's crazy, though. Our episode, on his death had nearly 600,000 plays on Spotify, which is pretty big even for us. Yeah, and you've done way more if you can cut out that bit about Mencho's links to Epstein

and like Opus Day. Is that Opus Day? I don't know if that relevance is going to be. I mean, the Da Vincian Code came out a long time ago. I don't know if your current, like, your cultural references are basically 15 years ago. I feel like that reference to it was falling. That's every single reference I have. I like the strokes and I read books about Opus Day.

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, we all know what happened. El Meno, real name, Nemesio, Ruben Osegeta, Servantes. How did that pronunciation go? That was good. The head of Mexico's current most powerful and ultra-violent cartel was killed in late February in a daring raid with the help of U.S. intelligence. His death triggered an attack on the state by his cartel soldiers

that saw dozens of Mexican security forces killed, Terrorism zones shut down, blockades, things being set on fire, chaos at the airports, violence, and massive insecurity nearly across all of Mexico. And all of this in places where the World Cup will be hosted in a few months. Yeah, and if you didn't listen to that show, do it now, or maybe after this one. It includes a great interview with even greater Owen Grillo about the whole thing. Owen being on the ground covering what he calls the Mint Jassal, which is the rage following the Kingpin's death. And we'll be doing some more fun stuff with Owen in what? I mean, as we're recording this, like, a week.

I think a week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And definitely subscribe to Crash Out Media, who was one of the sources for this episode. You know, he's doing it independently, and he's really, this is not a guy who just started doing this six months ago. He's been out there, I don't know, 30 years, 20 years? Yeah, yeah.

But just like that, it was mostly over, right? In a matter of days, things settled down, and the question on everyone's mind was, what's the point of this, Sean Williams' life? I mean, what do we all do? like sitting in a studio, reading a script into a microphone about some Mexican drug lord. Is this truly what God has intended for us? I mean, you think I believe in God when I sit down to talk with you about organized crime

in a small hotel room? The other, I'm, you know, I'm a man of faith, John Williams. The other question, though, was what happens to Mexico's cartel world now, especially C.J&G, which as we know is the most powerful cartel in Mexico and big fans of pumping meth and fent across the northern border. Mentiono, of course, in the weeks after his death, had the typical drug lord funeral. He was buried in a literal golden coffin. I think there was like convoys and all his Sicario's came out to pay their respect.

Now, when we've seen big takedowns in the past of bosses, either captures or killings, it's usually eventually led to splintering and infighting civil wars and various factions forming and turning on each other, or even just other cartels, smelling blood in the water and making their move. sometimes though there is a relatively seamless transition at first that seems to happen i feel like when they're they're kind of family affairs and the cartel nepo babies are either somewhat respected or have consolidated power obviously another big story the last i don't know decade five years or so has been el chapo being replaced by his sons los chapitos and omayo sons doing the same for his wing of the

scinaloa cartel los maitos los maitos right i believe that's what it is at least those that weren't locked up and extradited of course course, those two groups aren't exactly the perfect example because they turned on each other and are fighting a bloody, bloody war. I guess though that's an extreme example because it involves some pretty major betrayal. Mancho himself does have a son that was his right-hand man for a while, nicknamed what else, El Manchito, which kind of sounds like a cute kid, you know, definitely not, but Manchito, you know, I think sounds cute. No, am I, my wrong on this, Sean? Yeah, yeah, it's pretty cute. Yeah. Now, he's been the number two behind Mancho,

for a while being groomed to lead that whole thing. He was arrested a few times, I think, in 2014, 2015, young too at the time, I think 24, 25, but very involved in the cartel business. He showed a natural aptitude for it and was a major player since he was a teenager. Also, half-brother of our man from the cold open. Also, I get menchito, but what do you call the grandson?

Like the nepo baby of the nepo-bo-do. Do you call him like menchintito or something like that? I might actually, I'm going to run this past my Spanish studio. he's got to be announced to this. Maybe. I mean, that's another cute nickname, you know, kind of portrays. Mention Tito. There we are.

Mention Tito. Unfortunately for Mancho's legacy and for El Manchito, he's been locked up in the U.S. since February 2020, where he was convicted in September of 2024 of the usual cartel stuff and then sentenced in 2025. He's currently serving life plus 30 at ADX Florence. Not a nice place to be. So his ability to take over the leadership is non-existent. Interestingly, he's American.

born in San Francisco. So where does that leave CJ&G? According to a monster Wall Street Journal report from March, in the hands of 41-year-old Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez, who is none other than Mencho's American Stepson. And much like the Stepson videos that Sean likes to watch, things are going to get a bit messy. Does that, do that work? I feel like I had to shoe hoard it in there. I was racking my brain for a while, trying to think of what I could add in, though, you know, that like things are about to get dirty, a bit problematic. Probably spent more time on that than anything else in this episode. No, it shows.

I'll give you a five out of ten. I'll like maybe run out to six out of ten because I actually laughed when I read that. And then yeah, I knew how long you would have spent staring at your laptop trying to come up with it, which is the true pleasure of these shows. Yeah, yeah. You've gotten better at it, you know? You really, you're working. But I think that is like 8.5 out of 10. Come on.

Six out of ten. I'll meet you in the middle. Seven out of ten. Seven out of ten. Now, Gonzalez isn't just, I'm still smiling. I loved it. Yeah. Gonzales isn't just your run-of-the-mill Nepo baby replacement, though. For one, many seem to think he was the lieutenant or top-level guy with the most amount of internal respect in CJNG.

We'll get into why that is a little further down the line. But first, we need to get really into and understand how he is straight up cartel royalty, not just as Mencho steps on. And for that, we have to go back. back to a simpler time and to a wild, wild family clan turned cartel known as Los Quinny, Quinny's.

Quinny's? I should have probably looked up how to pronounce that and didn't before the show started. Back in the day, I would stop recording and go look it up right now, but I'm just gonna I'm clumsy guys. Queenies is good. Queenies is good. You do with Queenie. Yeah. And that's a type of squirrel that has a lot

of kids because there were reportedly 18 siblings in the family. Those some reports have it as 12. And that is the family that Gonzalez is born into before his mom later marries Manchelle. Now, his mom named Rosalinda Gonzalez Valencia is herself a high-level cartel official known as La Hefa, serious woman, serious nickname. His uncle on his mother's side is also a cartel boss, and his father, though some reports would have it as his great-uncle, is another different cartel boss.

Before I get going on this, the sources for this are the usual cartel stuff. info bay local Mexican publications crash out media Owens thing that I mentioned before yeah interestingly it's called by the way it's called Info Bay which I didn't realize for ages but I assumed it was a pretty niche outlet doing stuff

from crime and other such matters in Mexico but then I came to Argentina and they're like all over the place like actual billboards all over Buenos Aires they got a radio station a huge staff across Latin America it's a very good signs for underworld FM yeah I actually had no I assumed they were just

like a niche drug world crime, Latin American crime publication. I always kind of laughed at the name because it sounds like a silly name, you know, Info Bay. Yeah. You probably chose it before that was like a slang term. But I had no idea. So you're teaching me new things every day, Sean Lowe. There you go. Yeah.

The Valencia clan emerges in Micho-A-Kahn in the 70s and 80s, and at first they're avocado growers. But they soon get involved in marijuana, growing and trafficking, before later turning their attention to Coke and synthetic drugs, of which they're apparently one of the first groups this is later on to really dive into it, the synthetic drugs that is, which makes sense because CJNG, CJ and G, is eventually known for the same thing, right, meth and fent. Some of them leave early in that period to head to the U.S., like La Hefa, Rosalinda,

where they continue the family's profession of drug trafficking. The siblings soon formed the millennial cartel. And this is where it gets confusing because the guy said to be the main leader, and by some accounts, the founder of the millennial cartel is Armandovales, also known as Maradona, which is a top-notch alias for a drug lord in the 80s and 90s. As I mentioned, various sources have Armando as El Haifa's uncle, while others have him as her one-time husband and father of Mencho stepson, the now boss, which is confusing, but rural Mexico is not exactly known for their paperwork skills in the 80s, so who really knows?

And as an article in El-Pais writes, quote, the documents from the U.S. justice system state that in Mitchell O'Con, four out of every five or six people have the last name Valencia, and they also marry among themselves. This, the documents say, generates confusion, yes. Such as the fact that for more than a decade of the United States, people thought Armando Valencia, Cornelio, and his cousin, Louis Valencia Valencia, Louis Valencia, were the same person instead of the two leaders of the millennial cartel, or that Armando managed to avoid his first arrest warrant because the judge didn't know his second son. their name and there were dozens of Armando Valencia's. Okay, that's genuinely funny. It's like you could just get away with any crime and if you call every single son in your village Armando Valencia. Yeah, it's really good. I mean, fingerprinting I think probably takes a lot of that out,

but it's, yeah, very confusing. I'm going to go with husband and father of the new boss because it just seems like more sources say that and it makes my life easier just to pick one and stick with it. Husband uncle is just too confusing, though it does seem like it would be quite familiar to some of the people who leave us angry comments. You see what I did there, Sean? I'm saying their parents are related.

You know, I feel like I'm slowly morphing into Polly Walnuts here. Yeah, how are those sideburns looking these days? Maybe getting a bit great. They're getting a little bit great. I don't know if I have the wings yet though, but see what I said there, Tone? You see what I said there, Sean? Armando ends up working with some of the all times in Mexico's cartel. First, Miguel, Anheel, Felix Gallardo, the boss of bosses, and then the Lord of the Skies, Amato, Carillo Fuentes, the guys who revolutionized how cartels operated in Mexico. We've done episodes on, I mean, all of them, probably mentioned them in a dozen or so at this point. You can do the search thing and find them.

Or if you've seen Narcos, you know how big they were. They really were the guys at the top of the top. He's able to take the millennial cartel and expand like crazy into a bunch of other Mexican states besides Michoacan. And they also stick to their roots and launder a lot of the proceeds through avocado farms and cattle. I think they also ship a lot of the drugs in avocados. In one legendary shipment in April of 1999, he takes 8,670 kilos of Coke from a tuna boat owned by a Colombian, transfers it into Mexico and then sneaks it into Texas.

He's later indicted in the U.S. that same year for trafficking coke, heroin and we to various states, and he's arrested by the Army in 2003s. Okay, so that's dad, right? The millennial cartel continues onward with his, relatives at the helm and even aligns with the boys from Sinolawa to eventually take on Los etas. Now, this is a very confusing time in the cartel wars. It's a confusing period where all these groups and factions are aligning and fighting than breaking apart, maybe even more so than at like any other time. Quote, according to the DEA, the Hylisco New Generation Cartel is an offshoot of the Sinolawa

cartel. For the U.S. Treasury Department is an offshoot of the millennial cartel. Both visions are correct, wrote security expert Carlos Flores in the 2016 Atlas of Security and Defense of Mexico. Now, this gets a little more confusing, so stick with me. Los Quinis is a cartel that emerges as a faction of the millennial cartel, and it's led by the brother of Rosalinda,

El Palone or the stepson's mom, the new boss's mom, whose nickname is El Quiney. His name is Abigail. Rosalinda herself is also a high-ranking member. Al-Quey goes to the U.S. in the 1980s and works with El Mancho, in a drug ring in California.

I haven't done a ton on Mentional here, but we've covered it before in full episode. So briefly, Mentiono famously worked in the avocado fields of Valencia's as a youth, where he befriended them and joined the millennial cartel. He was guarding their marijuana fields as a teenager in the 80s before allegedly being sent to work in a drug ring with Abigail. Though the dates are iffy on that,

and Mentiono was arrested for selling heroin, whereas Abigail goes down for selling meth. So Abigaya basically heads out as a freelancer in association with the millennial cartel as opposed to being directly part of them or is he like no no no he's he's he's he's part of them he's definitely he's like high ranking part of them and just el al quini kind of is like it's weird it could be a faction of them it could be something they break into you know how these things are like super floored and uh super what's the word i'm looking for not fluid fluid fluid fluid that's the word i'm looking for it was a long

florid fluid something fluid in the uh in the cartel world right so you have the millennial cartel out of the millennial cartel emerges Los Queenies and CJ&G who are also aligned and maybe part of each other but Los Quinis is like this money laundering operation or wing that also was like potentially a faction of the millennial cartel. Is that

more confusing or is that less confusing the way I just said it? The same confusing. Great news. The federal EV rebate is back. Eligible customers get up to $5,000 with the federal EVAP rebate on select 2027 Volt and 2026.

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outside of it. But the leadership for both were like intertwined. Okay. Eventually, of course, after arrest and sometimes served in prison, they both end up, this is Abigail and Mencho, in Mexico putting in more work for the millennial cartel. When Mencho first returns to Mexico, he marries Rosalinda, El Hefa, and they have a son together, El Manchito. She, of course, already has our friend from the Cold Open, whom I'm just going to call El Pelon

because it's easier. I know, I know, like, this is very confusing. the timing is also way off for a lot of this stuff, but we are trying to make sense of it as poorly as we're doing. Whatever the case, her marrying Mancho is said to be like some medieval wedding between kingdoms, matching up the financial wing of the cartel, Los Quinis, with the Sicario paramilitary wing of El Mancho. Personally, Sean, I think they married for love,

but me, I am a hopeless romantic, as you very well know. Oh, that comes across in every single episode we do. reads Mexican media, quote, in reality, Al-Mencho reached the cartel's leadership through a strategy of diplomacy via marriage. Public security analyst David Saucedo told CNN in Espaniol.

He was indeed the chief of hitmen for Nacho Cornell, but he lacked the lineage that Rosalinda, his wife possessed. So Serio added, you know, I thought Carteland was a meritocracy at some points, but I guess family connections still really matter when it comes down to them. Now, in 2003, the Zetas are just causing havoc

in Mitchell-A-Con and against the Millennio Cartel. According to a Mexican publication, they actually chased the entire Valencia clan out of Mito Khan around 2004, and then the siblings were settled in Halisco. Remember, CJNG eventually emerges out of the millennial cartel and is known first as the Zetas killers.

So after that movement to Alisco, the millennial cartel forms a new Sicario unit set up to defend them, led by a young man they had grown up with, El Mancho, who prior to that, had actually been a bodyguard for Armando, Maradona, El Paloan's father, before he was arrested. Are you following me?

Yeah, I got you there. That was good. The 2000s see a bunch of other Valencia is arrested, and in 2009, the then head of the millennial cartel, a Valencia clan member known as El Lobo is arrested. This sets in motion that break up the cartel. Mentiono by that point is big into producing meth. He runs like five massive labs, and they're soon to become his staple. Actually, there's another cartel from the 90s that not many people know about that really

started the big meth production, and that's the Colima cartel, which I eventually want to do an episode on that sort of encompasses meth in Mexico as well. Yeah, so let's get into that a tiny bit more, because I don't know whether that, like, is that kind of meth production in Mexico related to the meth production in the golden triangle? Because that's exactly the same time that meth was becoming a big deal there as well, right? Or is it evolving completely on its own? I think it's evolving completely on its own. I don't think they had any connections. Maybe the precursors from China were more available then in the 90s, but I actually don't know. But I would assume that, you know, they're in competition at that point. And maybe it might just be a thing that that meth was just

having a moment in the 90s. And I feel like, you know, both of us have some memory of that era. I feel like it was becoming like more of a thing in the 90s. You started hearing a lot more about crystal meth back then. Yeah, for sure. But again, it's kind of like a chicken and egg thing. Did you start hearing more about it because the Mexican cartels were like, we can make a lot money off this, you know, it's synthetic, let's pump it into the U.S. So it's really, I mean, it's a, it's a good question that I don't have the answer to. I mean, definitely in Europe, it was coming from China because there was like a shortage at one point, and it was because they cut it out somewhere in like Jin Zhang, if that's, if that's the right place to think

about it. Yeah. I know, it's something I'll definitely research when I'm, when I'm looking into that meth episode. But yeah, so the millennial cartel is fracturing into two distinct groups, one of which is headed by Almencho alongside his brother-in-law, Abigail, Valencia, El Queenie, they went out versus the other faction, and this would eventually become C.J.NG. Now, some sources say Los Quinny's forms officially around the same time as CJ&G, though they were definitely operating, albeit maybe informally before. By all accounts, it is or was a parallel, though Allied cartel to CJ&G at this time, like 2010, which again, super weird dynamics, right? Because MENCHO is in charge of CJ&G, and his wife is a high-ranking

member of those Queenies. As Inside Crime points out, quote, the precise nature of this relationship has never been fully clear. Some reports describe the Queenies as the financial arm of the CJNG, while others viewed it as a separate, if still affiliated organization. In 2014, there were even reports that Al Quini is the boss of CJNG and Mencho is his deputy. In 2015, Alquini is designated as a kingpin by the U.S., and he's also arrested. so whether or not he was the boss doesn't really matter as much.

Many sources say his sister and Mancho's wife, El Hefa, then takes over as the boss of Los Quinneys and starts handling all the finances and businesses. She's got six other sisters who also work with her, I think allegedly for some of them, but the others have been arrested. Many of the brothers, if not all, as well, remember, we're talking 18 siblings here. And Los Quinneys, they're established traffickers,

but their main expertise is money laundering, and Rosalinda, this is where she really shines. Los Queenies take some major hits in the 2010s, including the arrest of Abigail and some other major arrest of Valencia siblings and the higher-ups. Eventually, they basically get absorbed into CJNG as the finance arm,

that's to say they even were separate in the first place. And when I say finance arm, I mean, they run a global financial organization that moves tens of billions and owns dozens, if not hundreds of businesses and probably deals with just as many, shell companies and bank accounts. Reports Owen Grillo's crashout media.

Quote, the U.S. Treasury has blacklisted dozens of businesses, it says, are linked to the Queenies, such as hotel resorts, shopping malls, construction companies, housing developments, boutiques, a music promotion company, and a tequila brand. The Queenies are the ones who deal with the finances so they end up with an incredible amount of wealth, a former Mexican federal agent involved in Queenie's arrest in Mexico tells me they have assets everywhere in South America, in Europe and Asia, they control of vast fortune. Two things from that. One, as someone who literally just had to set up one LLC, like, it is insanely impressive that these people do this without any real education in, like,

the finance sector, university. It's incredible that they're able to do this and map it out. I mean, they get caught eventually, but to plot all this stuff and run all these business, I mean, I'm sure they have people doing it for them. And it's a lot harder. I mean, maybe we're just telling ourselves here. No, I think it is really challenging. But I think one of the big issues when you have people doing it for you in the rear world is that some of them are inclined to steal from you. You probably don't do that as much in the Mexican cartel world, you know? The second thing I would add is that remember we were talking about the chances of there being violence in Guadalajara during the World Cup. And I think one of the points that I was making was that there are so many businesses in those cities that are run by the cartels that they're profiting off of and they're watching.

their money through. So doing anything that really threatens those businesses. I mean, that's one of the reasons you have the major resort cities in Mexico that for the most part avoid serious of violence. Now, it's not always the case, as we saw in Puerto Vallarta. Sometimes things do kick off when there's something crazy like Almencho's death happening. But I, again, I really just don't think it's going to happen that they're going to cause some sort of vast levels of violence that would really not just piss off the entire international world, but threaten their financial arms. I mean, the point of this really is to make money, and that is how they do it, washing it through all these businesses.

Also in 2015, that's when El Mancho's rightful heir is arrested, his son, El Manchito, and that paves the way for his stepson, nicknamed El Palin, Baldi, Bimbo, Tricky Trez, which I kind of like, or R3, Tricky Trez. I should say it like that. I shouldn't say with a fake Spanish accent that's terrible. He's born in Santa Ana, California in 1984, and he's born into the game. One could say, Sean Williams. We don't know a lot about his childhood,

though obviously his parents were narco bosses and he spent some of his youth in the United States. Should we just make something up and see if it becomes one of those things that, you know, one outlet says and then every journalist moving forward just repeats it without fact-checking? I think, let's do that, okay? Yeah, go.

So he loved to play Capture the Flag with the Neighborhood Kids, though apparently other parents shut the game down because he became too violent. In his early teens, he was super into the card game Magic, The Gathering, and his favorite movie was Disney's blank check. That is something I could genuinely imagine reading in an AP story. But also, isn't it quite interesting that Mentiono doesn't seem to care whether his kids are in the drug game or not? Like, the majority of big-time gangsters, they don't want their family anywhere near the game, right?

They pay for them to go through college and do law school. But, like, I guess by all accounts, Mentiono seems to be a crazed, bloodthirsty psychopath. So I guess he wasn't, like, monitoring his kids' YouTube consumption. for casual references to violence or anything like that. So that actually, I don't think that's necessarily true, right? Because you had, you know, Mencho's kid, I mean, El Mayo's kids, most of them. I guess the Chapitos as well, right? It seems like a relatively common thing.

I think it's also a big thing in the Italian mafia in the U.S., definitely in Italy. But in the U.S., I think, you know, there are some differences, right? Some of the kids get into it. Some of the kids don't. But there was a, I forget who said it. It maybe was in a book. It was talking about, like, the different. in the Italian Jewish Mafias in the 20s and 30s and 40s

was that the Jewish Mafias did not want their kids to go into it with the Italians, it was kind of like a, you know, like a hereditary thing. But that wasn't always the case, obviously, I think... Yeah, maybe I'm remembered in this from one of your... Yeah, the Monkiesman one or something like that. One of the Tony Acardo's grandsons, right? NFL player, Tonya Carter, the boss of, like, the greatest boss in Chicago history. His grandson was in the NFL.

Damn. Yeah, we talked about that. I don't remember exactly the name. Yeah, so I think, you know, that's also like a staple of like mafia movies, right? Like, do I want my kids to be in this? Do I want them to do something different? Organize crime movies in general, right? Do we want the kids to be involved?

Do we not want them to be involved? I feel like it's a common, I mean, the godfather, right? It's like a common plot line for a lot of stuff like that. But yeah, in the cartel world, it does seem like, I mean, a lot of them have a lot of kids, but it does seem like, I would just assume more often than not the kids do get involved. So he rises fast in the ranks of the cartel, just like his half-brother. In 2016, he's allegedly involved in the kidnapping of the Chapitos

as we covered in the Cold Open. He's also linked to an attack against the former Haleisco prosecutor perpetrated in 2018, and he's allegedly responsible for killing or leading hitman against a host of other Mexican officials. So he's not shying away

from the stuff that would attract pretty crazy, you know, international and state attention. Something else that happens in 2018 is that his mom, Rosalinda, is arrested for the first time in Halisco for money laundering. A federal judge charges her for her connection to 73 companies. The state says are used to launder $1.1 billion or $53 million between 2015 and 2016.

Alas, she's freed after being held for three months for lack of evidence. How can you connect her to 73 companies but say there's not enough evidence? That doesn't compute. I mean, someone pays you to say there's not enough evidence or threatens you, something like that, or maybe they just don't have. Yeah, that's probably it. I assume their paperwork skills aren't, aren't like the feds, you know. She's later arrested in Guadalajara in November of 2021 and accused by Mexican authorities

of being a financial operator for the Haleiscoe cartel. By then, she's considered the chief financial operator, the legit CFO of the CJNG, and one of the highest ranking members. As of right now at this moment in 2026, I believe she's free, actually. I think, what was it, Deborah, Deborah Bonello, who we had on the show who did a book on a, um, the, and not this. Yeah, narca female female, female narco bosses. She, I think, wrote some of her, said something about that.

She's a good source for this kind of stuff. So I just want to make sure that we give her proper credit. Now, Rosalinda's son around the time she's first arrested in 2018. We're talking about our boy, El Palone, not, not, uh, the full, mancho's full son, forms up an elite tackle group of Sicario's that become known as Delta group or elite group. I've seen both mentioned, and I can't. can't tell if they're the same, but the takeaway is the same.

He is the leader of a group of Sicariozacarios that functioned more like a paramilitary group or military commandos, and this is part of the growing trend of the militarization of the cartels. Of course, that's how it's framed, especially with CJ&G, which I don't know, strikes me as not that accurate after Los Zetas came about like a decade or two earlier, right, guys with real military special forces training, you know? Anyway, he leaves this unit of the CJNG that are essentially their commandos who, you They go in like the tip of the spear to fight other cartels over routes and territories. Definitely not some run-of-the-mill gangbangers, right?

They reportedly received training from Colombian military officials turned mercenaries. An elite group is no joke, right? They go to war in different states. They take on Sinolaoa, other serious units like Los Villagras, another smaller cartel and La Familia Michoacan. So El Palone is a high-ranking operator for years. But differing from a lot of other cartel princelings, he keeps low profile. He's not showy or flashy. At this point, he's considered the third most powerful player in C.J&G after Mencho and Menchito.

He gains enough of a reputation as a fearsome guy that eventually there are dozens of narco ballads about him, the narco caritos. Writes a Mexican publication, quote, these songs describe his loyalty to El Mancho, his role as an operational leader, and his alleged rise to power within the organization. One of the caridos performed by Neton Vega includes verses such as, quote, Route, shipments, trucks, and planes. We are in charge of the cartel. It keeps growing, gentlemen. It's a pleasure to hold the position of boss. I always support my father.

I will never let him down. Doesn't really translate, does it that one? No, no, no. Also, funny line from the Wall Street Journal article, quote, a recent report by the Mexican Attorney General's office describes Valencia Gonzalez as extremely violent, which, really?

You think so? The cartel boss, commando guy, is extremely violent. I, you know, I feel like that goes, yeah. On October 8th, 2020, he's indicted in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, firearm offenses, and criminal forfeiture. And they soon throw up a $5 million bounty on him, where apparently in the investigation into him was codenamed Pinky and the Brain, which is a great show that probably holds up. I haven't seen it in a minute. Interestingly, you know who else had a $5 million bounty on his head, Sean Williams? Uh-oh. No, Daniel Kinnahan.

Oh, okay, okay. I think it was going to be another joke about me in some birding club. No, no, Daniel Kinnahan, who, as we all know, was just arrested and is, I believe, or about to be extradited or was already extradited. We, of course, did an episode on him a while ago. One of our first episodes was the Kinnahehan versus Hutch family. You did an episode on Kinnahann, I think, about December. And then we touched on him.

Yeah, I think it was January. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We touched on him in the Stashess episode where I offered a prediction that his time was coming to an end. I believe that episode aired March 24th. So it's a shame that you cannot bet on these things on Cal She, because I actually would have won a bet for once about him, you know, his impending arrest. Let me be the first to say, well done. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So Pinky in the Brain,

$5 million bounty on his head. A few months before that, he releases a gnarly press video on Mentos' birthday. It's 100 guys dressed in military tackle gear holding assault rifles, chanting, quote, pure Mencho's people, pure the Lord of the Roosters people, Lord of the Roosters being Mentiono's nickname because he likes cockfighting. And the next ads, we're giving it our all here.

Long live, R3, pure elite group gentlemen, Lord of the Roosters, of course, his nickname, R3 being a nickname for the Stepson, El Palone. I mean, I guess he wasn't keeping too lower profile. Maybe I was wrong in saying that flashiness because that sounds pretty showy, you know. The video also shows... Well, that was his guys, though, right?

was his guys. So I think he was always on the run and like running around these various strongholds, but his guys were out there, like the pure four letters or whatever they were doing you. Yeah, yeah. Shows a convoy of the video of 22 armored vehicles. Some of turrets, those narco-tanks that aren't really tanks. So defense guys, I'm not calling them tanks. I just want to be very clear about that. These are not tanks. They don't have treads. They're not, they don't have the setup. It's not the community you want to piss off. Yeah, yeah. They're not APCs. They're not, what's known as narco tanks. It's a colloquial term for the up-armored vehicles that the cartels make. Let me be very clear on that. There's also grenade launchers in the video, Barrett Rifles,

quote, it's the only identified armed group of this nature, acknowledge the then-secretary of National Defense, and it's led by Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez. Also in 2020, his alleged dad, founder of the millennial cartel, Armando, Mado, Mado, goes free after being released from the Federal Center in Lexington, Kentucky, 15 years early because of cancer and good behavior. After being in prison for 17 years, I think most of those in Mexico. She had never agreed to be a cooperating witness and apparently said he would be returning to his home in Atherton, California, which is the richest town in America. It's a suburb of San Jose, so lots of tech money.

I didn't know that. That's kind of weird. They named it after an England opening batsman with a 37 test average, but, you know, I guess these tech guys are a different breed. Solid cricket reference. I'm sure the 12 people that get that. that are going to love it. It's been a while.

They'll leave a comment about it, too. Cricket fans love to give us nice, nice, nice compliments, especially when you mention things, or to attack you when England loses. Yeah, yeah, they're big. Well, yeah, it's really often. Love it, die hard. So, yeah, he is doing his cartel boss thing,

leading the fight, and then in February of 2024, there were reports that he's captured in Ciudad Guzman, leading to the usual cartel flare-ups, but that's apparently refuted shortly after and said to be just a run-of-the-mill cartel blockade, which I don't know, man. Like, maybe he was, and they changed the story to sort of cover up the fact that he just let him go because they were threatened. But interesting to have that reported and then have it refuted.

Interestingly, again, in 2025 in August, when Mexico exorites dozens of top cartel bosses to the U.S., remember there were a few of those like moments back then that were super surprising. You had like 30 guys getting sent over by Sean Baum to U.S. One of those extradited is El Quini himself, Abigail Mencho's brother-in-law. and El Penloin's uncle. I think I mentioned earlier he was arrested in 2015, but had managed to dodge extradition for a decade. Now, Owen Grillo and Crashout details how the head of the DEA

was actually waiting for El Cuny in particular and met him as he arrived in the U.S. That's how big of a deal he was. But now, here we are, February 2026. Amancho has just been killed in a raid and the most powerful cartel in Mexico is leaderless. When he dies and things are up for grabs, it's still unsure who the air is going to be.

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Well, it's 2026, pal. Grow up. It's a possibility. There have been other queen pins. And like I said, we even had Deborah on the show who wrote the book about the history of women bosses in cartel land. Yeah, Deborah's book, Narcas is really, really good. I think interviewed her back in like 2021 or something like that. There's also another respective lieutenant said to control a whole lot of howlesco.

His nickname is The Gardner, which seems like a cute, fun nickname, until you think about why you would call a cartel leader, the Gardner. I don't think it's because he grows tomato plants, though, could be. A lot of those guys love gardens, as we all do. And there's another lieutenant mentioned as the potential boss nickname the Toad, who was a major Sicario recruiter, just wanted to mention him because he's got a fun cartel boss nickname. And yet another nickname, El Yogurt, another fun nickname, who has built himself a paramilitary group of Sicarioes, who are mostly former Colombian soldiers that know how to make bombs and have counterinsurgency training.

Yeah, I heard he's got a great thing going on with El Grinola. You know, people make fun of my jokes now, but we're not a comedy, podcast guys A and B. That is old school. That's classic Sean Williams right there. Really just terrible stuff. Interestingly, so when you just got off a knife plus, you know what? I shouldn't be so harsh on you, man. That's decent work. Dale could do like a kind of like graphic of a, of like a tumble wig going across the screen when I do that. I think years ago, I used to have them add in like the Fuzzy Bear, but um, whenever like every once in a while when you made those jokes. interestingly, some of them claimed they were alerted to Mexico.

These are the Colombian mercenaries under false pretenses and then forced the fight, which, I don't know, man. It seems like you'd have to be pretty naive in this case for that to happen to be like, oh, come over Colombian soldiers, we need you for something. Oh, no, it's a cartel trick. It just seems, I don't know, unrealistic to me. But it could happen. Who knows?

What actually happens, according to many of the sources when it comes to the succession battle, is that all of these lieutenants agree to respect Gonzalez. as the new head of CJ&G. And I'm using the term lieutenants very loosely, by the way. I just use it to mean like the executive vice presidents and whatnot. I don't know how else you describe all these guys. So Gonzalez, heavily respected, earns it, gets his hands dirty, he's been effective, low profile, has the pedigree,

so he's not like a typical Nepo baby handover. Anyway, a lot of pressure to take over a cartel when it's cult-like psychopath founder gets killed. Though another analyst says that maybe not as respected as we think, which is that guy David Sossetto, I think, that we mentioned before, he tells the New York Post that Valencia Gonzalez, quote, still lacks influence among other cartel commanders to consolidate leadership. He's also just guessing, though, like we say,

and we'll see how long CJ and G can hold out, or if they can keep things together. It really seems like, though, the last five years, we've seen the two biggest cartels of Mexico fracture, first in Aloa, now maybe CJ&G. And then what's really interesting about this, and what a big part of the WSJ article focuses on is the legal issues with surveillance, targeting everything that happens now because he's

an American citizen. That's sort of the crux of that big article, writes the journal, quote, U.S. intelligence agencies may now face legal hurdles in directly targeting, collecting personal data on Valencia Gonzalez because of his place of birth. That risk hindering a significant tactical partnership that has developed between Mexican president, Claudia Scheimbaum, and Washington that is making increasing use of information provided by U.S. military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies. Under the rules for surveilling Americans overseas,

the U.S. would usually need to get sign off from the Attorney General and also persuade a secret forward intelligence surveillance court that Valencia Gonzalez is acting as, in quote, agent of foreign power, such as an international terrorist group. Although the hurdles are surmountable, the additional procedural requirements could hobble a fast-moving operation, current and former U.S. officials said, which definitely could complicate things,

but, you know, as we know in tandem with Mexico in their request, the CIA was instrumental in the operation to take out on MENCHO, but more so with surveillance. They used an unarmed predator drone to watch a compound where Mexico's, Mentional lover was staying, kept an eye on it, and then, you know, I guess a guy

was pretty sure it was Mencho, they thought they IDed him, and then only hours later, Mexican Special Forces launched their raid. But, you know, if we're being honest, like, let's be real, if they want to keep an eye on the dude, do the surveillance stuff, they're just going to do it. Yeah, I mean, literally, today as we're recording this what two CIA guys died in a car crash in mexico who were allegedly

working against the cartels and shine bounds saying what were they doing there yeah but i mean like yeah if you're pushing for greater surveillance on u s o wouldn't this news actually be kind of a blessing it's like this is the smoking gun you need to convince lawmakers that the war on drugs is finally on us so right not not that it ever wasn't but you're right there's no one if they're not going to be piling everything they've got this guy. Wait, what do you mean, convince them that's you and so the fact that he's an American? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but that's, that's actually been, you know, we had, um, uh, Barbie, remember? Uh, there have been pretty hierarchical guys and Manchito. The stepson was, uh, I mean, the real son was American too.

So it seems like it's this sort of like anomaly, but it's really not, you know? Wait, did Shinebaum say she didn't know what those guys were doing there? Yeah, yeah. That's, uh, that's the current line. I bet this is going to change in a few years. Pure speculation for me, but she, she knew. Come on. pure speculation. I want to be clear about that. That's the kind of speculation that's going to get us popular, so keep going.

Yeah, but here's the thing. What else does she know? I'm announcing that it's pure speculation. If we're some other podcasts, we'd be like, oh, I def my sources say, you don't have sources, buddy. I mean, if your own grillo, you have sources. If you're Luis Chaparro, you have sources. 99% of you do not have sources.

Let's be real about that. Your sources are our social media. And the other thing that we're talking about here, Trump has expressed an interest in targeted assassinations of cartel bosses, is he going to go through with it? Who knows? Which, you know, being a U.S. citizen again could complicate that. But the Obama administration famously killed that al-Qaeda cleric in Yemen, who was also a U.S. citizen,

so there is precedent. You know, I know this might be controversial, but I feel like once you become an al-Qaeda leader or a cartel boss overseas, even if you are a U.S. citizen or once were, you like, you might have to sacrifice some rights. You know, I know that's controversial, but like both these guys openly announced they are the things. They weren't like, we're hiding this. They were like, hey, I'm an al-Qaeda leader. I'm a cartel boss. Like, there's no, there's no doubt here. Yeah, this guy's not the roadrunner. Yeah, yeah. There's no like, are they guilty. It's like, hey, we are these things. Here's a video

announcing that we are these things. Of course, we still have the World Cup coming in like, what, a month and a half in Guadalajara, June 11th, which we still have not received an invitation or sponsorship for. Do you have tickets? Are you currently going? Because I'd like to read this passage from the Wall Street Journal article to you. Quote, Mexican officials say that Scheinbaum administration is now at a point of no return as it deals with the aftermath of the Kimkin's death. Several World Cup soccer matches will take place this summer in Guadalajara,

the Halisco State Capitol, where the cartel enjoys a monopoly. Here's a quote inside the article. We have embarked on this route and there was no turning back, one Mexican official said. Otherwise, they can kill us all, which, Christ Almighty. First of all, calm down. Second of all, what a quote. And like I said, maybe you guys don't want to risk it. Sean and I and Dale will happily take your tickets if you don't want to go and don't feel safe.

The cartels are actually the second biggest threat to you. If you go there, second biggest threat to your health, the first would be hanging out with Sean Williams after he's had five pints, which I've done. And let me tell you, life-threatening in every way possible. There are certain Brooklyn establishments I cannot go back to if I'm with him. Yeah, there'll be no points for me. But also, I had the chance to see England versus Panama in Jersey. but actually I think the biggest threat. I mean, I would walk straight into Carteland

before spending like 10 grand on watching England beat Panama 1-0 probably in the rain. Yeah, I don't know. I'll be watching it. I'll be watching the whole thing in some like oldy-worldy BA pub with a few dozen insane old men with like flat caps and like beautiful shirts and everything.

I don't know, man. If 10 more people sign up to the top Patreon tier, I'll watch Argentina versus England in a sports bar in La Boca. wearing a Falklands t-shirt. I will do it. I will do it. And when I murdered,

my death will be on your hands, which of course is what all of you scumbags would really love, wouldn't you? Settle down, buddy. I do love when the World Cup is on, man. It's just so much fun. You know, I don't watch the Premier League. I don't pay that much attention.

But it's so much fun, dude. Yes, you do. It's so much fun. Like, it really is just a grammar. Hate here in the World Cup. It's going to be so good. Are they really? Yeah.

That's awesome, man. They are if they can get visas. I love, I love a sleeper story like that. You know, like Morocco-Alasco around. Like, I love a good story like that, man. Who, any good sleeper stories that you suspect from paying attention to this stuff? Scotland could do well.

There we go. I'm just making sure, because I feel like I saw them they're going to be in the World Cup, but they're like not a bad thing. Englishmenari. You don't even know if Scotland's the World Cup? Well, we're good, man. We're like the second or third best team in the world,

So we're expected it, but yeah, Scotland. Scotland in a group with Haiti, Morocco, and Brazil. Actually, I take everything back that I just said. Yeah, they're done. They're going to bomb. That's all right. Okay. Literally last week, we'll get back to the actual podcast.

Literally just last week, as I was finishing up writing this, the co-founder of CJNG, who I mostly left out because it's just too many names, L85, who was also from California, like we said, just pled guilty in D.C. to conspiracy to distribute Coke. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years, which he somehow gets that, not bad. He was extraded in 2025 in one of those big ways from Mexico as well. So there you have it. El Mancho's air, going to put that up in the title and hope the Al Mentiono name gets us another half a million plays.

Yeah. So we went off a little off a little off kilter this episode, you know, but, uh, that's all right. Yeah, that's all right. We don't need to be killed. I don't need to be on kilter. On kilter. On kilter. Patreon.com,

such aneworld podcast. I swear he'll be putting bonus episodes up again. Underworldpod.com, the annual podcast at gmail.com. And, uh, yeah, you know, hit us off. I, advertising sponsors. Sean's running around Latin America doing all sorts of things. So if you want to hang out with him, uh, he's, he's lonely.

Are you? Yeah, I'm extremely lonely. Yeah. Um, in Bolivia. sitting next to a literal pile of cocaine. I count and wouldn't do. You know, I used to make those jokes. Anyway, I felt bad about your employment prospects after what.

You can't say it. Anyway, whatever. It's all good. We love you guys. Thanks for listening. Until next week. Jay Shetty, are you one of those media strategy people? Scrolling through spreadsheets, searching for an audience that pays twice as much attention to your ads than they do on social?

Let me introduce you to fans. And they're here with me on Spotify. Trust me, I know fans. They don't skip. They stay for hours. They don't move on. They manifest. They're not a demographic group.

They're fans. Spotify advertising. You're among fans.