The Betrayal That Brought Down the Largest Criminal Empire

This is the story of Mexico’s shortest-lived cartel alliance. Sometime in the winter of 2024, Iván Archivaldo—the most powerful of “Los Chapitos,” the family faction of the Sinaloa Cartel—conceived an idea intended to revolutionize organized crime. He sought to form an alliance with the powerful and sprawling Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). 

He envisioned that, alongside Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes—known as “El Mencho”—he could build the largest criminal structure in the modern history of Mexico, and perhaps the world. It would be the realization of the dream held by his father, “El Chapo” Guzmán, who in the early 2000s had attempted to create “The Federation”—the first national drug syndicate designed to unite all criminal groups under his leadership. 

That earlier idea had failed because it was too ambitious; it required uniting the seven cartels that held a national presence at the turn of the century. But this time, “El Chapito” believed the conditions were ideal: between his faction and “El Mencho’s,” they covered the entire national territory, the 50 U.S. states, and maintained a presence in over 60 countries worldwide. 

They no longer needed seven cartels, just two: the Sinaloans and the CJNG. Fast-tracking the alliance was crucial. War had broken out in Sinaloa on September 9, 2024, and “Los Chapitos” were facing the combined fury of “El Mayo’s” faction and the Guasave Cartel, led by “El Chapo Isidro.” It was clear that to put up a fight, they needed reinforcements. 

Unable to leave Sinaloa due to the siege by Mexican and U.S. authorities, Iván Archivaldo sought a trusted confidant to act as an emissary and negotiator with “El Mencho.” The responsibility fell to his cousin, Alejandro Guzmán López; leveraging his low profile, he traveled to Jalisco and met—somewhere in the state’s north—with the leadership of the “Four-Letter Cartel” (CJNG), who were willing to negotiate. 

It was a contract that was simple in its general objectives but complex in its details. Los Chapitos needed the same protection that had kept El Mencho out of the reach of Mexican justice. Meanwhile, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel required new routes for trafficking drugs, weapons, and undocumented migrants to strengthen its finances and expand into states as distant for them as Tamaulipas—the gateway to the United States via Texas. 

It was a period of back-and-forth negotiation. Much like the merger of two major corporations—though in this case, illegal ones—the devil was in the details. Satisfying both sides was essential. According to Illicit Investigations, once the fine print was agreed upon, El Mencho demanded a guarantee of compliance: one of the Chapitos, Jesús Alfredo, had to live in Jalisco for a time. 

In exchange, Audi Astro Silvas—”El Jardinero”—would send his trusted lieutenants to Sinaloa. And everyone kept their word. By early 2025, the new mega-cartel was already announcing its formation on social media. The propaganda machine was running at full speed. The new armed force appeared wearing tactical vests embroidered with the initials of Iván Archivaldo and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). 

They were on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, using emojis and narco ballads to announce that a new monster had been born. From the very beginning, this mega-cartel fought against *La Mayiza*, the Guasave Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, the Western Cartel, and even the Tijuana Cartel. It withstood attacks, conquered territory, and suffered losses, but above all, it prolonged the war in Sinaloa well beyond the 400-day mark. 

Yet, the creature’s life was shorter than anyone had imagined; it survived for only thirteen months. In February 2026, the Mexican Army and the National Guard launched an operation in Palpa, Jalisco, targeting “El Mencho,” whose precise location had been pinpointed by U.S. intelligence agencies. The attempt to capture him resulted in his death, and sixty-four days later, “El Jardinero” was arrested while hiding in a sewage pipe. 

With that, half of the agreement’s signatories had been neutralized. This Tuesday, Secretary Margaría Harfush confirmed that those two actions precipitated the failure of the project to create Mexico’s first mega-cartel. Without El Mencho and El Jardinero, the coalition fractured; today, “Los Chapitos” once again stand alone, facing the aftermath of a criminal revolution that lasted but a fleeting moment.

Source: MVS Noticias