A terrifying Mexican drugs cartel has a mysterious new leader. Not much is know about Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez apart from him being ‘El Mencho’s’ stepson and his nickname
Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez is the new Jalisco boss(Image: US Department of State)
A new leader has taken control of the terrifying Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to US authorities.
It comes after the gang’s last leader ‘El Mencho’ was killed in a huge shootout with Mexican security forces in February this year. His death sparked chaos in the Jalisco region and surrounding areas, with cartel henchmen fighting with the authorities who brought their boss to justice.
New leader Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez, 41 – born in California – now poses a new threat to US and Mexican security. Valencia has even been given a new moniker – ‘El Baldy’ – after it emerged one of his aliases is ‘Pelon’, which means ‘bald’ or ‘hairless’ in Spanish.
Meet… ‘El Baldy’
It’s bizarre because the bloke has a strong hairline on his criminal bonce. But just go with it, yeah?
Valencia is the offspring of Armando Valencia, co-founder of the now-dissolved Milenio Cartel, who served a prison sentence in Mexico before being extradited to the US. He was released from prison in 2020 and has since vanished without a trace.
His mother Rosalinda González had three children with ‘El Mencho’, including Rúben ‘El Menchito’ Oseguera, who was found guilty in a DC federal court in September 2024 and handed a life sentence in March 2025.
There was chaos in Jalisco after El Mencho’s death(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
While it’s unclear when the family relocated back to Mexico, Valencia ascended the cartel hierarchy and emerged as one of the leaders of “Grupo Elite”, the criminal group’s armed division.
Valencia was next in line for the cartel crown after Audias ‘El Jardinero’ Flores, who was apprehended by the Mexican navy on 27 April.
There are even rumours that Valencia set up Flores’ arrest.
El Mencho was killed in February this year(Image: DEA)
Speaking to the New York Post, Mexican security expert said: “After Flores was arrested, there were practically no acts of narco-terrorism – no roadblocks, no looting of stores, and no reaction whatsoever from the Jalisco Cartel.
“There was no significant backlash. This suggests that Juan Carlos Valencia himself was in on it and was the one who revealed El Jardinero’s location, thereby eliminating internal rivals.”
