Overview

• The Justice Department unsealed charges against five high‐ranking members of Carteles Unidos for conspiring to manufacture and traffic methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl into the United States and for using illicit proceeds to acquire weapons and hire mercenaries.
• The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 13 Mexican companies and four individuals tied to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel for orchestrating a $23.1 million timeshare fraud targeting elderly Americans near Puerto Vallarta.
• Treasury also blacklisted Carteles Unidos, Los Viagras and seven affiliated individuals under its foreign narcotics kingpin sanctions program, freezing any U.S. assets and prohibiting American transactions.
• These actions build on Mexico’s August 12–13 expedited extradition of 26 suspected cartel leaders—including Abigael González Valencia and Roberto Salazar—under a U.S. pledge not to seek the death penalty.
• Officials say the coordinated use of foreign terrorist organization designations, criminal indictments and economic penalties aims to sever cartel revenue streams and disrupt leadership networks.