06142016Tue
Last updateFri, 10 Jun 2016 6am

US updates blacklist of Jalisco firms

Six Jalisco businesses have been used to launder illicit profits on behalf of one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, according to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The companies are believed to be under the control of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

Four of the companies named are agricultural businesses based in Guadalajara: Agricola Boreal, Agricola Tavo, Desarrollo Agricola Organico and Desarrollo Agricola Verde de Sayula. Medical technology consultancy Step Latinamedica was also named. It has offices in the upmarket Providencia neighborhood of Guadalajara. 

The company Status Administrativo was listed because of its links to Hotelito Desconocido, an exclusive hotel in Tomatlan, Jalisco.

All of the organizations are connected to Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, the former head of Los Cuinis, a criminal organization believed to run the Jalisco Cartel’s finances. Gonzalez Valencia is the brother-in-law of feared cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (alias “Mencho”) and is widely believed to be the financial brains behind the operation. 

Yet police and marines swooped on Gonzalez Valencia in Puerto Vallarta last year and he is now held in an undisclosed location. 

The OFAC prohibits U.S. citizens, permanent residents, U.S. foreign nationals, and U.S.-based businesses from transacting with the blacklisted companies.  

“The action today is another step in dismantling the drug trafficking organization known as Los Cuinis,” said OFAC Director John E. Smith.

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