U.S. Treasury targets Jalisco New Generation Cartel with sweeping sanctions

The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday what it called “historic” sanctions on one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent drug cartels.

The Treasury Department says the round of sanctions are the largest yet against the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The criminal organization is a major drug producer and smuggler, and responsible for a trail of brutal violence across Mexico after its founding more than a decade ago.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned more than 50 individuals and businesses that they say are tied to the organization.

They include Juan Carlos Valencia González — known as “Pelón” — who Treasury identifies as the new leader of the cartel. Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho,” led the group until he was killed earlier this year in a Mexican military operation.

The new round of sanctions also target several other individuals they believe to be linked to the cartel’s drug trafficking or money laundering schemes, as well as businesses allegedly tied to those individuals.

The Trump administration designated the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and several other Mexico-based criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations last year.

“President Trump has made clear that terrorist cartels will be dismantled,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a statement. “Today's action strikes Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion's leadership, financiers, and criminal networks, denying the cartel the resources it uses to traffic fentanyl, terrorize communities, and threaten American lives.”