CJNG began in 2009 as a splinter group of the Milenio Cartel, along with La Resistencia. CJNG defeated La Resistencia and took control of Milenio's smuggling networks. CJNG expanded its operations coast to coast in six months, making it one of the criminal groups with the greatest operating capacity by 2012. 

Following the cartel's emergence, homicides, kidnappings, and the discovery of mass graves spiked in Jalisco. By 2018, the CJNG was believed to have more than 100 methamphetamine labs throughout Mexico. Based on average street value, its trade could net upwards of $8 billion for cocaine and $4.6 billion for crystal meth each year. 

The CJNG is fighting the Nueva Plaza Cartel for control of Guadalajara; La Unión Tepito for Mexico City; Los Viagras and La Familia Michoacana for the states of Michoacán and Guerrero; Los Zetas in the states of Veracruz and Puebla; Cártel del Noreste in Zacatecas; the Sinaloa Cartel in Baja California, Sonora, Ciudad Juárez, Zacatecas, and Chiapas; as well as the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in Guanajuato. It has alliances with the Cártel del Golfo in Zacatecas and La Línea in Juárez.

CJNG is considered by the Mexican government to be one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Mexico and the most powerful drug cartel in the country. It is also considered the cartel with the most paramilitary firepower. 

CJNG is heavily militarized and more violent than other criminal organizations. It has a special operations group for specific types of warfare. Its hitman training program is strict and professional. The cartel is best known for its fights against the Zetas and Templarios; it has fought La Resistencia for control of Aguililla, Michoacán, and its surrounding territories.

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