Overview
- Authorities announced the coordinated package on July 23, 2026, sanctioning about 55 individuals and companies and instructing U.S. Treasury to freeze the targets' U.S. assets.
- Washington publicly identified Juan Carlos Valencia González, known as Pelón or R3, as the cartel's new leader and the State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
- Mexico's Financial Intelligence Unit filed criminal complaints with the attorney general and put the same targets on its Blocked Persons List to enable prosecutions and account freezes inside Mexico.
- The designations hit a wide commercial network used to launder proceeds, including firms in tequila, clothing, construction, agriculture and energy, and singled out fuel‑theft and timeshare fraud schemes as revenue sources.
- Officials framed the move as part of the broader narco‑terror strategy begun with last year's FTO/SDGT designations and warned foreign banks and businesses they face legal and compliance risk for facilitating CJNG transactions, which could further squeeze the cartel's cross‑border operations.