On April 27, Mexican security forces mounted an operation in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit and captured Audias Flores Silva, alias “El Jardinero,” a top regional commander of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation.
It was just the latest offensive against Mexico’s top crime groups. One week earlier, security forces went after Aureliano Guzmán Loera, an influential Sinaloa Cartel player known as “El Guano.” The brother of the former drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” however, reportedly evaded capture.
The recent operations were the most recent chapter in Mexico’s long-running kingpin strategy, which has centered around arresting or killing the country’s top drug bosses.
SEE ALSO: Failed Kingpin Strategy at Heart of New US-Mexico Security Plans
While this type of security strategy dates back to the 1970s across Latin America, it became more systematic in Mexico following the launch of the country’s militarized crackdown on organized crime in 2006, which was supported by the United States. Major arrests of criminal leaders have reshaped Mexico’s criminal underworld, and violence during the last 20 years has soared.
But the old guard is dwindling.
Below, InSight Crime looks back at the last 20 years of Mexico’s major criminal takedowns and asks who remains and what may come next.
Twenty Years of the ‘Kingpin Strategy’
2006-2016 – Mexico’s Capos Captured and Killed
2006:
Francisco Javier Arellano Félix, co-founder of the Tijuana Cartel (also known as the Arellano Félix Organization) was arrested by the US Coast Guard off the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. In 2002, Mexican authorities killed his brother Ramón and arrested his brother Benjamín.
2009:
Arturo Beltrán Leyva, former leader of the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO), is killed in his home in the city of Cuernavaca by the Mexican army.
Vicente Carrillo Leyva, son of the deceased Juárez Cartel leader Amado Carrillo Fuentes, was captured by the Mexican police. He was released in 2018 and reportedly entered the United States witness protection program.
2010:
Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “La Barbie,” a prominent enforcer for the BLO, was captured by the federal police in the State of Mexico. He was extradited to the United States in 2015.
Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel, a leader of the Milenio Cartel and close associate of the Sinaloa Cartel, was killed in an army operation in Guadalajara. His death accelerated the split between the two groups, which would eventually give rise to the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación – CJNG).
Antonio Cárdenas Guillén, alias “Tony Tormenta,” was killed by Mexican security forces in the border city of Matamoros. He was the brother of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, founder of the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas, who was captured in 2003, extradited to the United States in 2007, and released in 2024.
2011:
José Jesús Méndez Vargas, alias “El Chango,” a leading figure in the Familia Michoacana, was arrested in Aguascalientes. He is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence in Mexico.
2012:
Heriberto Lazcano, alias “Z3,” was killed by Mexican marines in the state of Coahuila. He was a former commander in the Mexican special forces before becoming leader of the Zetas. Before his death, the group split into two rival factions, with Z3 leading one of them.
Top Zetas commander Iván Velazquez Caballero, alias “El Talibán,” was captured by Mexican marines in San Luis Potosí at a time when the group was undergoing its violent internal split.
Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, alias “El Coss,” who headed the Gulf Cartel after the fall of the Cárdenas Guillén brothers, was captured by Mexican marines and extradited to the United States in 2015. He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges two years later.
2013:
Miguel Ángel Treviño, alias “Z40,” who led the faction of the Zetas opposing Z3 after the organization split in 2012, was captured in the border city of Nuevo Laredo by Mexican marines. He remained in Mexican prison until he was transferred to the United States in 2025.
Mario Ramírez Treviño, alias “X20,” a former leader of the Gulf Cartel, was captured in Tamaulipas. He remained in a Mexican prison until his death in 2025.
2014:
Nazario Moreno González, alias “El Chayo,” was killed in Michoacán in a shootout with Mexican security forces. A founding member of the Familia Michoacana, he later became the leader of its splinter group, the Knights Templar.
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, alias “Viceroy,” inherited the leadership of the Juárez Cartel after the death of his brother Amado in 1997. He was arrested in Coahuila and spent almost 11 years in a Mexican prison before being transferred to the United States in early 2025.
Héctor Beltrán Leyva, alias “El H,” head of the BLO after his brother Arturo was killed, was arrested at a restaurant in Guanajuato. He spent four years in a Mexican maximum security prison, where he died in 2018 of natural causes.
Fernando Sánchez Arellano, alias “El Ingeniero,” led one faction of the splintered Tijuana Cartel until his 2014 arrest in the border city of the same name. He was released in 2023.
2015:
Servando Gómez, alias “La Tuta,” leader of the Knights Templar, was captured in Michoacán, leading to the downfall of the criminal group. He was transferred to the United States in 2025.
Alejandro Treviño Morales, alias “Z42,” inherited the leadership of a Zetas faction from his brother Z40. He was captured in Nuevo Laredo and transferred to the United States in 2025.
Jesús Salas Aguayo, alias “Chuyín,” who inherited the leadership of a debilitated Juárez Cartel, was captured in Chihuahua.
Abigael González Valencia, a top leader of the CJNG’s main money laundering wing, known as Los Cuinis, was captured in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. He remained in Mexico until 2025, when he was transferred to the United States. He went on to plead guilty to drug charges and was sentenced to 30 years in US prison.
2016-2026 – The ‘Old Guard’ Goes Down
2016:
Mexican marines captured Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” for the third time in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. He first escaped prison in 2001, and then again in 2015.
2017:
Dámaso López Núñez, known as “El Licenciado” and formerly the right-hand man of El Chapo, was arrested in Mexico City and extradited to the United States the following year.
Juan Francisco Patrón Sánchez, alias “H2” and a top leader of the Beltrán Leyva Organization, was killed by Mexican marines in Tepic, Nayarit.
Dámaso López Serrano, alias “Mini Lic,” surrendered to US authorities at the Calexico border crossing in California and was taken into custody.
2018:
José María Guizar Valencia, alias “Z43,” the alleged leader of a Zetas faction operating along Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, was arrested by the Mexican marines. He was later extradited to the United States, where he pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking charges.
Federal authorities arrested José Alfredo Cárdenas Martinez, alias “El Contador,” a top Gulf Cartel leader and the nephew of the storied crime boss Osiel Cárdenas Guillén. However, he was quickly released on a legal technicality. He was arrested again in 2019 on kidnapping charges, but a judge released him after just a year due to a lack of evidence.
2020:
Mexican security forces captured the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, alias “El Marro.”
2022:
Mexico’s navy captured Rafael Caro Quintero in his home state of Sinaloa. He was later sent to the United States after evading extradition since 1985 to face charges over the murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
Erick Valencia Salazar, the co-founder of the CJNG known as “El 85,” was recaptured in Tapalpa, Jalisco. He was later transferred into US custody and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.
Mexican security forces arrested the Gulf Cartel boss known as El Contador for a third time. However, a judge revoked his pre-trial detention and ordered his release from prison. The US Justice Department indicted him on drug charges in March 2022 and formally requested his extradition.
2023:
Ovidio Guzmán López, one of the sons of El Chapo who leads the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured in Sinaloa four years after security forces failed to secure his arrest.
2024:
Joaquín Guzmán López, another son of El Chapo and a top leader of the Chapitos, was taken into custody in the United States after orchestrating the kidnapping and handover of former Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo.”
Mini Lic was recaptured in the United States after violating his probation and charged with fentanyl trafficking.
2026:
Mexican security forces located Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho,” the leader of the CJNG, in Tapalpa, Jalisco, and killed him.
Mexico’s navy captures top CJNG regional commander Audias Flores Silva, alias “El Jardinero,” in the state of Nayarit, prompting roadblocks and buildings to be burned across the state.
Security forces arrest a major financial operator for the CJNG named César Alejandro N, alias “El Güero Conta,” in the Zapopan area of Guadalajara in Jalisco state.
Mexican security forces arrest Alexander Benavides Flores, alias “R9,” a top leader of the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel in the US-Mexico border town of Reynosa.
Who’s Left?
The kingpin strategy has created leadership vacuums, generating the atomization of Mexico’s criminal landscape and more than 100 horizontally integrated networks that operate in nearly every corner of the country. In that context, there are fewer clear-cut “kingpins” on the radar of authorities.
Among the remaining high-value targets are brothers Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, sons of El Chapo. Both continue to lead the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel with the support of El Guano. They are locked in a bloody conflict with the Mayiza faction, led by Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias “Mayito Flaco,” son of El Mayo. El Mayito Flaco also remains at large.
Since the conflict in Sinaloa began in September 2024, authorities have arrested several members of the inner circles of both the Chapitos and Mayiza factions, including security chiefs and key operatives, but have yet to reach these top leaders. Both the Chapitos and Mayito Flaco are wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges.
Also operating in Sinaloa is Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias “Chapo Isidro,” an independent trafficker formerly associated with the BLO who now leads his own group, known as the Meza Flores Organization or the Guasave Cartel. He is on the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ (FBI) Ten Most Wanted list and also faces drug charges in the United States.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s other major criminal organization, the CJNG, continues to be operated by a combination of regional bosses and members of El Mencho’s family, including his stepson, Juan Carlos Valencia González, alias “El 03,” who has reportedly taken on a leading role following El Mencho’s death. Other high-profile targets include Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán, alias “El Sapo”; Abraham Jesús Ambriz, alias “Yogurt”; and Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, alias “Doble R.”
Featured image: Created by InSight Crime’s design team using a photograph published by the Mexican government of the crime bosses transferred to the United States in 2025.