PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) – The United States has imposed sanctions on three individuals linked to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most formidable criminal organizations. The Treasury Department has identified two of these individuals as senior members of the cartel, accusing them of trafficking high-caliber firearms from the US and facilitating fuel theft in Mexico, and one politician in Jalisco for laundering money for the cartel.
Announced on Tuesday, June 6, by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the sanctions were the result of joint efforts with the Mexican Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
The sanctioned individuals include Mary Cruz Rodríguez Aguirre, alleged to be the sister of Marilda Elisa Rodríguez Aguirre, a former deputy of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Mary Cruz stands accused of laundering money for CJNG, led by notorious kingpin Nemesio Oseguerta Cervantes, also known as El Mencho.
“Based in Jalisco, Mexico, Mary Cruz Rodríguez Aguirre operates a money laundering network that shuffles illicit funds between the United States and Mexico, including on behalf of the CJNG,” said an official statement. The report further elaborated that Rodríguez Aguirre was working in collaboration with CJNG regional commander, Audias Flores Silva, arranging the movement of drug proceeds from the United States to Mexico.
The other two targeted individuals are Adrián Alonso, alias El Ocho, and Javier Guerrero Covarrubias, both accused by the OFAC as high-ranking and violent members of the criminal organization.
A Twist of Politics and Crime
Interestingly, Rodríguez Aguirre was a candidate for the municipal presidency of Vega de Alatorre, Veracruz, in 2017. Local media reports highlighted her political ties to the alliance of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the National Action Party (PAN).
Rodríguez Aguirre purportedly laundered money through her currency exchange business, Nacer Pan-American Currency Agency and Exchange Center, based in Jalisco. The US Treasury Department shared that she facilitated the collection and laundering of more than $6 million between 2020 and 2022.
A Step Towards Crippling CJNG’s Operations
Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated that these actions aimed to disrupt the critical support networks of CJNG. “CJNG relies on a network of criminal activity that ultimately strengthens its ability to traffic fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States. Today’s action disrupts key support networks involved in arms trafficking, fuel theft and drug-related money laundering,” he affirmed.
As a result of these sanctions, any US-based assets of the accused will be frozen and must be reported to the US authorities, delivering a substantial blow to the CJNG’s operations.
PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) - The United States has imposed sanctions on three individuals linked to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico . . .
