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Roberto Saviano's shocking confession: El Mencho's cartel generated $50 billion a year, was a state within a state

2026-02-24 12:26:46Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Roberto Saviano's shocking confession: El Mencho's cartel generated
Roberto Saviano

Roberto Saviano, the renowned Italian journalist for investigations into the mafia and organized crime, has spoken about the power and influence of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel in Mexico and the role of its leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho".

Saviano explains how this cartel has become a "state within a state" through fentanyl production, corruption and the use of violence to impose its rules.

Interview with Roberto Saviano:

Question: Roberto Saviano, who was Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, killed in an attack by the Mexican armed forces?

Saviano: “El Mencho” was a very important leader. He changed the way the cartel operated, moving from traditional opium drugs to synthetic opioids. His idea was to focus on fentanyl. Fentanyl is produced in a laboratory, and the chemical ingredients came first from China and then from India.

Question: How great was El Mencho's power?

Saviano: According to the DEA, his group could generate up to $50 billion a year. He led the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, a symbol of the “new generation” of drug trafficking. He hired more chemists and tightened control.

Question: How does the "anti-state" of narco work in Mexico?

Saviano: With this amount of money you can corrupt anyone. The "anti-state" of narco can replace the state in entire territories: it controls the economy, security, work, and consensus. The message is clear: "Peace exists only if we want it."

Question: With the arrest of "El Chapo", did things change?

Saviano: He was a rival of El Mencho, so Mencho got more space, but the strategy remained the same. El Chapo had tolerated him because Mencho had eliminated a rival cartel, Los Zetas, known for extreme violence. The strategy for fentanyl did not change.

Question: Can drug traffickers cause a social uprising?

Saviano: Yes. It has happened in other countries. In Mexico, the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán (El Chapo's son) forced the state to release him to stop the violence. The uprising serves to renegotiate, not revolution.

Question: How deeply are traffickers infiltrated into the government?

Saviano: With that money, all levels are corrupted. Infiltration is structural in the territories where they operate. They pay, they buy loyalty and when that is lacking, they react.

Question: Can the government stop the uprising?

Saviano: You can contain it, but structurally destroying it is another thing. Insurrection is a means of pressure.

Question: Can they stage a coup?

Saviano: No. They don't want formal power. They want the state to exist, but to negotiate with them. The goal is to renegotiate the balance, not replace the government.

Question: Did Trump have a role in this murder?

Saviano: Yes, although his role is not entirely clear. He has stepped in where Democrats have not invested against the cartel and aims to disrupt the trafficking of fentanyl into the US.

Question: Why is fentanyl so crucial?

Saviano: Traditional drugs give euphoria, but fentanyl gives “deactivation.” In the US in 2024, deaths from fentanyl were 70-80 thousand, more than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Question: Would a US intervention like in Venezuela work?

Saviano: No. Cartels change alliances and strategies. Military intervention alone does not destroy the economic system that sustains them.

Question: Is there a risk for tourists in Mexico?

Saviano: Yes. "Narco blockades" are to spread terror.


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