U.S. sanctions new CJNG leader, more than 50 people and companies

The United States has imposed sanctions on more than 50 people and companies linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), including Juan Carlos González, who took control of the group after its founder, Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was killed during a military operation in Mexico earlier this year.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions Thursday, targeting the cartel’s leadership, drug traffickers, enforcers, money launderers, family networks and businesses across several Mexican states.

Gonzalez, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen and longtime CJNG member, is El Mencho’s stepson. He is also known as “Pelon.”

Treasury said Gonzalez became the cartel’s leader after El Mencho was killed during a Mexican government operation in February. Before taking control, Gonzalez led an armed wing responsible for significant violence across the region.

He has been charged with drug trafficking in federal court in Washington, D.C., and the State Department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

The sanctions also target networks associated with Audias Flores Silva, known as “Jardinero,” and Cesar Alejandro Villasenor Olivares, known as “El Guero Conta.” Both men were arrested by Mexican authorities in April, but Treasury said their network of family members, cartel operatives and front companies continues to operate.

Among those sanctioned are three plaza bosses accused of producing fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in the states of Jalisco and Zacatecas and overseeing distribution networks that transport drugs to cities in the United States.

Another network is linked to senior CJNG member Gerardo Botello Rozalez, known as “El Cachas.” Treasury said he has overseen cartel operations in several parts of Mexico and was linked to the Izaguirre Ranch training center, where people were allegedly recruited through coercive means.

Companies tied to Botello and his relatives include a baby shoe business, a private security company licensed to carry firearms and businesses involved in agriculture, tequila and agave production. Several of his relatives, including his spouse and three sons, were also sanctioned.

Other targets include Feliciano Ledezma Ramirez, known as “Chano Limones,” who Treasury accused of trafficking fentanyl to the United States and committing violence in the state of Michoacán.

Alma Laura Mena Alvarado and her husband, Jose Mora Leon, were accused of using a logistics company to divert liquid fentanyl to CJNG while also participating in gasoline theft.

Treasury also sanctioned a cocaine trafficking network led by twin brothers Marcial Apolinar Diaz Robles and Pedro Marcial Diaz Robles. The brothers allegedly used their connections within CJNG to move large cocaine shipments from South America through Mexico and onward to the United States and Europe.

A separate seven-person money laundering network collected drug proceeds in several U.S. cities and transferred the money to Mexico through various financial instruments, according to Treasury. The network allegedly laundered tens of millions of dollars annually since at least 2023.

CJNG was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in February 2025. Since 2015, OFAC has sanctioned more than 250 people and entities linked to the cartel.

“President Trump has made clear that terrorist cartels will be dismantled,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Today’s action strikes Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion’s leadership, financiers, and criminal networks, denying the cartel the resources it uses to traffic fentanyl, terrorize communities, and threaten American lives.”