Overview
- Treasury’s OFAC unveiled the “Boardwalk Empire: The Playas de Rosarito Network” designation that names former mayor and current federal deputy Hilda Araceli Brown alongside businessmen Candelario Arcega Aguirre and Jesús González Lomelí.
- The measures target the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and list regional leaders including Juan José Ponce Félix, known as El Ruso, and brothers Alfonso and René Arzate García.
- Fifteen companies were added to the sanctions list, cutting off transactions by U.S. persons with the designated entities.
- U.S. authorities allege González launders cartel proceeds and, with Arcega, worked to corrupt Brown’s local government to protect the Arzate group’s operations in Rosarito.
- Municipal records show Brown directly awarded three contracts totaling about 15.9–16 million pesos to Arcega between September 2023 and January 2024, as Baja California’s prosecutor cites no state case and Rosarito’s business council urges a full inquiry.