US sanctions leadership of Mexico's Jalisco cartel

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed economic sanctions on five high-ranking members of Mexico’s powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel for their drug trafficking, while also citing their involvement in killings.

Previous administrations have also sanctioned the cartel – one of Mexico’s most powerful -- as the Trump administration also did in May, when it targeted the cartel’s fuel theft operations.

The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals or companies have in the U.S. and prohibit U.S. citizens from doing business with them.

“CJNG’s reign of terror across Mexico and its trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has destroyed countless innocent lives,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “The United States remains strongly committed to leveraging all available tools to degrade the capacity of CJNG and other cartels to flood our streets with dangerous drugs and perpetrate heinous acts of violence against civilians.”

In February, the U.S. administration designated Jalisco New Generation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

The cartel is led by Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes and he was among the five leaders named Wednesday. Washington has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Two of those sanctioned have been recently connected to high-profile investigations in Mexico.

Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan has been linked to a ranch in Jalisco state where relatives of missing people found hundreds of garments, shoes and other items. Authorities believe the ranch was used by the Jalisco cartel to train recruits. Families of the missing believe recruits who didn’t comply were also killed there.

Ricardo Ruiz Velasco is a cartel lieutenant affiliated with its special forces unit. The U.S. Treasury said he also handles their propaganda and communications. Ruiz is a suspect in the killing of social media influencer Valeria Márquez, who was allegedly his romantic partner and was killed while on a live video stream in her salon on the outskirts of Guadalajara last month.

The other cartel members sanctioned were Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez, Oseguera’s son-in-law, who allegedly runs the cartel’s operations in the Pacific port of Manzanillo, and Audias Flores Silva, a regional commander for the cartel in several Mexican states.

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