The “Tropa del Infierno” Beheads 4 Men from Jalisco: CDN vs. CJNG

When we think about conflicts between cartels in Mexico, we know they are violent; however, the fighting that took place between the “Tropa del Infierno” (Hell’s Troop) and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) between the late 2010s and early 2020s reached an entirely different level. This was no mere squabble over a neighborhood or a single street; it was an all-out war in the heart of cities, featuring “Monstrous” (Improvised Armored Fighting Vehicle (IAFV), shootouts that looked like something out of a movie, and horrific videos uploaded to the internet to strike fear into the enemy.

In this video, I will walk you through how this conflict began and why the northern border turned into a genuine battlefield. To understand this mess, we have to look at the landscape at the time. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel—led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”—was aggressively expanding its reach across the entire country.

They had already secured control over key Pacific ports, such as Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas. These ports served as entry points for chemicals arriving from Asia—ingredients used to manufacture methamphetamine and fentanyl. But possessing the drugs is useless if you lack a way to move them across the border. That is when they set their sights on the ultimate prize: the customs crossings along the northern border.

The CJNG wanted to enter Tamaulipas and establish a foothold, but since it was foreign territory—and they were unfamiliar with the area—they sought local assistance. They reached out to disgruntled members of the Gulf Cartel, specifically a faction known as “Los Metros,” led by an individual nicknamed “El Primito.” Through this alliance, the Jalisco group gained access to safe houses, weaponry, and, most importantly, guides who were intimately familiar with the routes through the infamous “Frontera Chica” (the “small border” region).

The strategy was clear: encircle the Cartel del Noreste (Northeast Cartel) and strip them of their control. But for those who controlled the territory, Jalisco’s encroachment upon their international bridges posed an existential threat. Losing Nuevo Laredo meant losing millions upon millions of dollars. Consequently, they decided to respond with maximum force. This is where the group tasked with defending their turf—the “Tropa del Infierno” (Troop from Hell)—comes into the picture.

They serve as the armed wing of the Cartel del Noreste, but in reality, they are the direct successors to the original Zetas. From them, they inherited their military discipline, urban combat tactics, and their characteristically brutal modus operandi. During that period, the group operated under the command of the Treviño Morales family, with Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, serving as their primary base of operations.

Unlike other groups that try to stay hidden, the “Tropa del Infierno” (Hell’s Troop) would take to the streets in broad daylight, traveling in massive convoys of vehicles—custom-armored trucks that locals refer to as “Monstrous.” Whenever they learned that rivals—or even the Mexican military—were approaching, they would hijack cargo trucks and buses, position them across major avenues, and set them on fire.

In a matter of minutes, they could bring an entire city to a standstill. Their gunmen wore state-of-the-art body armor and uniforms that were identical replicas of those worn by the Mexican Navy. Their weaponry was staggering: modified assault rifles, heavy machine guns, and the infamous .50-caliber Barrett rifles—often mounted onto their trucks—capable of tearing through any kind of armor.

At the time, their operational commander was Heriberto Rodríguez Hernández; his only order to his men was clear: hunt down and eliminate anyone associated with the Jalisco cartel. The threat posed by the CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel) was so immense—and their financial resources so vast—that the Cartel del Noreste (Northeast Cartel) was forced to do the unthinkable: set aside their pride and seek out allies.

During those years of relentless gunfire, the Tropa del Infierno forged pacts with old enemies from the north—such as the remnants of the Beltrán Leyva organization—as well as other factions of the Gulf Cartel, all of whom were equally determined to prevent “El Mencho’s” forces from seizing control of Tamaulipas. They united under a single principle: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The conflict devolved into a brutal, street-by-street, corner-by-corner battle.

Dirt tracks, highways, and the towns lining the Rio Grande became “no-go” zones. The Jalisco cartel would attempt to infiltrate the area by hiding operatives in ordinary passenger vehicles, or by deploying trucks bearing fake markings to launch surprise attacks from the rear. But the “Tropa del Infierno” (Hell’s Troop) set up a brutal espionage system. They stationed lookouts and observers on nearly every street corner in Nuevo Laredo.

They established clandestine checkpoints at the exits of towns, searching anyone who appeared to be an outsider. If they suspected someone was passing information to the “Jalisco” faction, that person wouldn’t live to tell the tale. This paranoia and constant violence ended up stifling commerce and the daily lives of people along the border. We reached the darkest moment—the one that generated the most discussion online at the time.

In late 2019, the “Tropa del Infierno” managed to capture a small advance cell of the CJNG in Tamaulipas. It consisted of four men whom the Jalisco faction had sent to begin spying and destabilizing the territory in Nuevo Laredo. Rather than simply making them disappear quietly, the group decided to use the situation to send a message of terror to the entire country, recording a video that went viral.

The video showcases the full aesthetic of the “Tropa del Infierno” (Hell’s Troop): hitmen clad in helmets and military-grade gear, carrying long guns and wearing vests emblazoned with the acronym “CDN.” On the ground, the four men sent from Jalisco knelt, their hands bound. They were interrogated—with their captors shouting at them—on camera, and one of them was forced to read a message addressed directly to “El Mencho.” The message stated that Tamaulipas already had an owner, that his money held no sway there, and that he should stop sending men to their deaths.

As soon as the man finished speaking, the “Tropa del Infierno” hitmen beheaded all four captives—while they were still alive—on camera. This was not merely an act of cruelty; it was a psychological warfare tactic designed to make it clear to the CJNG that they were not feared in the north and that no prisoners would be taken. The extreme violence on the streets, combined with such graphic videos, compelled the Mexican government to intervene in earnest.

The Army, the Navy, and the National Guard deployed thousands of personnel to Tamaulipas. They began patrolling in armored military vehicles, leading to intense, historic shootouts in the urban areas of Nuevo Laredo—clashes in which the soldiers, benefiting from superior training and strategy, ultimately destroyed the “Tropa del Infierno’s” *Monstruos* (improvised armored vehicles).

The most intense phase of this conflict unfolded as the leaders on both sides began to fall. First, federal forces captured “El Negrolo”—the operational chief of the “Tropa del Infierno” in Nuevo Laredo—which triggered nights of widespread unrest and left the group severely weakened from within. Meanwhile, the Jalisco-based cartel suffered its most devastating blow to date with reports that its supreme leader, “El Mencho,” had been killed during a military operation in the Sierra de Jalisco.

With their long-standing leaders gone, the nature of the war shifted entirely. The massive incursion from Jalisco was halted in the north by the Cartel del Noreste. The convoys of heavy-duty pickup trucks vanished, and the conflict evolved into what we see today: quieter, smaller-scale skirmishes in which local cells vie for control of routes, operating in the shadows.

This all-out war between the “Tropas del Infierno” (Troops of Hell) and the CJNG fundamentally altered how cartels fight and how they leverage social media to intimidate their rivals—even though the major kingpins from that era are no longer in charge. The wealth generated by the customs crossings in Tamaulipas keeps the region in a state of extremely tense calm, where the slightest spark could reignite the conflict.

Source: MrCreppBoyy