U.S. NCTC Formally Names 'El 03' as CJNG Leader; Discloses Triad Command Structure With El Chorro and El Sapo as Lieutenants

The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) formally identified Juan Carlos Valencia González, alias 'El 03,' as CJNG's supreme leader following El Mencho's February 22 killing — the first official U.S. government confirmation of the succession, following the April 6 El País media report. The U.S. State Department reiterated its existing $5 million reward (in place since 2021 under a 2020 D.C. federal indictment for international drug trafficking and weapons charges) for information leading to his arrest. Valencia González, born September 12, 1984 in Santa Ana, California, is a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen and stepson of El Mencho via his mother Rosalinda González Valencia. NCTC's disclosure also named a formal two-lieutenant command structure beneath El 03: Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez ('El Chorro') — El Mencho's son-in-law, who controls Manzanillo port operations in Colima and CJNG's precursor-chemical supply chain, effectively resolving the 29+ day Manzanillo plaza-boss command void that followed El Chucky's May 9 arrest — and Hugo Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán ('El Sapo'), CJNG's military chief. The disclosure recasts the previously reported 'El 03 vs. El Sapo' succession binary as a consolidated triad rather than a rivalry, though independent confirmation of the internal hierarchy's stability remains pending. El Jardinero (Audias Flores Silva), arrested April 27, was noted as a fourth senior figure now sidelined by detention.