On June 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated five Mexico-based leaders of Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (“CJNG”), a violent Mexican cartel allegedly responsible for trafficking a substantial portion of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States. According to OFAC, CJNG controls the deep-water port of Manzanillo and runs fentanyl precursor procurement and other drug trafficking operations through that port. The CJNG is also reportedly involved in other criminal activities, including fuel theft, timeshare fraud, migrant smuggling, and corruption – illegal activities addressed in an Alert issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on May 1, 2025, to help financial institutions recognize and prevent the processing of related transactions. The new designees include the CJNG’s notorious leader Ruben Oseguera Cervantes (a/k/a “El Mencho”) and Ricardo Ruiz Valasco, a senior CJNG lieutenant who is close to El Mencho and is the prime suspect in the recent murder of Valeria Marquez, a social media influencer in Mexico who was killed while on a video livestream.
All of the new designations were issued pursuant to EO 14059, which targets the proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and EO 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists and their supporters. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designated person within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release | FinCEN Alert – May 1, 2025