U.S. Treasury flags Mexican town as CJNG drug production hub

The U.S. Treasury Department has pinpointed the municipality of Florencia de Benito Juárez in Zacatecas, Mexico, as a significant hub for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). The department identified the area as a settlement used by the cartel for the production of illicit substances, including fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

According to the Treasury Department, José Octaviano García Martínez, along with Cuauhtémoc Rivera Zepeda and Uriel Hernández Morales, are currently leading the drug laboratory operations in Zacatecas and Jalisco. These individuals are reportedly subordinates of Audias Flores Silva, also known as "El Jardinero," who is considered one of the successors to the late cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho."

Florencia de Benito Juárez, a small municipality covering 328 square kilometers in southern Zacatecas, is situated in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, bordering Jalisco. Its strategic location and rugged terrain likely facilitate clandestine drug production. The area is approximately three and a half hours by car from Morelos and four and a half hours from Sain Alto, locations where ten bodies were discovered on July 18.

This is not the first time Florencia has been linked to cartel activity. Previous reports from 2025 indicated that the municipality was already a zone of cartel presence and drug manufacturing. Authorities dismantled a criminal camp in Florencia de Benito Juárez last year, which was being used by a cartel, though the specific group was not initially identified. Additionally, a drug greenhouse used for cultivating and producing marijuana was dismantled in June 2025. Despite these efforts, the U.S. Treasury's designation underscores the persistent challenges in combating drug trafficking and cartel operations in the region.