Gente Nueva
Gente Nueva (English: New People), also known as Los Chapos, in reference to their drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, is a large group of well-trained and experienced gunmen that function as one of the elite armed wings of the Sinaloa Cartel, created to counter, battle and destroy the Juárez Cartel's influence in the Mexican north-west, as well as to battle and destroy La Línea which is currently the Juárez Cartel's largest remaining cell.
| Founded | 1995 by El Jona |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Sonora, Mexico |
| Years active | 1995-present |
| Territory | Sinaloa, Mexicali, Chihuahua, Acapulco, Sonora, Ciudad Juárez |
| Ethnicity | Mexican |
| Activities | Drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder |
| Allies | Sinaloa Cartel Artistas Asesinos Los Mexicles Los Antrax |
| Rivals | Los Zetas Juárez Cartel La Línea Los Muertos Knights Templar Cartel CJNG |
Gente Nueva dates back to 1995 when El Profe begun his criminal career in the Mexican state of Chihuahua under the Sinaloa Federation. Gente Nueva has served as the main branch of the organization in Ciudad Juárez and in the rest of the state, where they have engaged in a four-year war with the Juárez Cartel and its enforcer wing, La Línea, for the control of the smuggling routes to the United States. Amid the internal struggles and infightings in the Juárez cartel, Gente Nueva began to recruit the cartel's members.
By 2012, U.S. intelligence indicated that the Sinaloa cartel and Gente Nueva have emerged victorious and successfully relegated the Juárez cartel to the sidelines. The El Paso–Juárez corridor is a lucrative route for drug traffickers because the DEA estimates that about 70% of the cocaine that enters the United States flows through that area.