The Jalisco cartel, one of the most powerful Mexican drug cartels, decided to hand out Christmas gifts to children and adults during a parade in the western Mexico city of Guadalajara.

According to the Daily Mail, members of the Jalisco cartel led a parade of vehicles through the Guadalajara neighborhood of El Retiro last week. At one point, the cartel members stopped in the middle of the block and started giving Christmas gifts out of the back of a pickup truck decorated with an inflatable Santa Claus, a snowman, and lights.

In a video, adults and children can be seen lining up on both sides of the street. A man can also be heard expressing his support for the Jalisco cartel, saying, "why doesn't the government do the same thing?"

The man further noted that the cartel members are people of Ricardo Ruiz, who is known to be the leader of the Jalisco cartel's "Grupo Elite."

Residents of El Retiro also converged on several cartel pickup trucks to get gifts ahead of Christmas Day. The neighborhood is reportedly just blocks away from a police station.

"Grupo Elite" is a notorious gang operating in Jalisco, Michoacán, and Colima states. Mexican drug cartels seem to have their own holiday tradition of handing out Christmas gifts to residents in their area of operations.

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Mexican Drug Cartels Giving Christmas Gifts

In 2020, Jalisco Cartel members gave Christmas lunches in the town of Tomatlan in Jalisco state. There was footage of a man knocking on a door, handing out plastic bags of food, and saying it was from "Senor Mencho."

The man was referring to the Jalisco cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho." According to Mexican crime researcher Cecilia Farfan, it was not "altruistic behavior" and was more a way "to buy the goodwill of populations where they operate."

Farfan leads the Security Research Programs at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California San Diego. Miguel Angel Leon Carmona, a journalist from Mexico, previously said the Christmas gifts "correspond to how this group operates."

Leon added that the Jalisco cartel wants to "legitimize themselves" by only selling drugs and "don't extort or kidnap." The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), is not the only organized crime group doing the same handing out of Christmas gifts.

According to Farfan, Sinaloa Cartel members are also known to organize festivities in their state. She added that the cartel also pays the medical bill for their employees and relatives.

Last year, photos and videos of a narco Christmas party allegedly thrown by the four sons of Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, known as "Los Chapitos," surfaced online.

The images and clips from the narco party in Culiacan, Sinaloa, showed some bands performing live for the invitees, including those who received eight brand new cars. 

Footage of the event also showed rows of toys and other goods lined up with the same black stickers that carried the letters "JGL" - the initials of Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of El Chapo's sons.

Los Chapitos reportedly followed their father's footsteps and his former associate Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, who often gave away extravagant gifts to show their gratitude to those who were loyal to them, especially during the Christmas season.

Escobar once ordered the construction of more than 200 homes for poor families in the Medellin slum of Moravia in Colombia. He also directed the establishment of more than 50 soccer pitches and ordered his followers to deliver loads of gifts ahead of Christmas. 

Jalisco Cartel of Mexico

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is reportedly operating not just in Mexico but internationally as well. U.S. officials noted that the cartel controls the movement of more than a third of all drugs consumed in the U.S. and has expanded into Europe and Asia, The Washington Post reported.

According to authorities, the Jalisco cartel is known for making mass graves, kidnappings, acid baths, and video recording beheadings. The CJNG had risen to power after former Sinaloa Cartel capo Ignacio Coronel, known as "Nacho," was killed in July 2010 by Mexican security forces.

Nacho's death resulted in the split of the Sinaloa Cartel into two factions - "La Resistencia" and "Torcidos." The "Torcidos" became what is now the Jalisco cartel, which has since expanded rapidly in Mexico.

El Mencho, who currently heads the Jalisco cartel, continues to evade capture, and the U.S. government offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. He remains to be the most elusive criminal, and he is reportedly hiding in Mexico.

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Written by: Mary Webber

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