Jalisco New Generation Cartel Kingpin Pleads Guilty

0:00It's April 8th. Global news today starts now, AI-powered and worldwide. I'm Cory with the story. A top co-founder of Mexico's brutal, Alisco, New Generation cartel, known as L85, just pleaded guilty to major drug trafficking charges in. The U.S. His row name is Eric Valencia Salazar, and he's admitted to conspiring to ship five kilograms or more of cocaine into the country. The Department of Justice announced it, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years behind bars staring him down. Captured by Mexican forces back in 2022 in Alisco State, he got extra-dited here in February 2025, along with 29. Other alleged kingpins. The DEA calls him a key architect who turned the cartel into a violence machine, dominating Mexico through murders while pumping poison across the border. His plea hits hard amid the cartel's rip as one of Mexico's most powerful outfits. Just months ago, fake news about their top boss, El Mencho, dying, sparked wild shootouts

1:02across 20 states, showing how unstable they are, sentencing set for July 31, and it fits the Trump admins' aggressive push last year, they slapped CJ and G, with foreign terrorist organization, Status. Trump's leaning on Mexico's president's shine-bound to crack down harder, especially after her forces nabbed and later lost El Mencho, which she touted as, a bayon. With players like L85 folding under pressure, the fight against these border threats keeps heating up, reshaping the game on both sides.