The U.S. government on Wednesday raised from US $5 million to $25 million the maximum reward it is offering for information leading to the arrest of Juan Carlos Valencia González, the alleged new leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The U.S. State Department announced the higher bounty as part of reward offers totaling up to $102 million “for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions, in any country, of eight leaders and associates” of the CJNG, one of eight Mexican criminal organizations that have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) by the U.S. government. All of the eight people — seven men and one woman — face criminal charges in the United States.
“The reward offers include up to $25 million (an increase from up to $5 million) for Juan Carlos Valencia González, aka ‘Pelón,’ the new leader of CJNG following the recent death of his stepfather, CJNG founder Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, aka ‘El Mencho,’” the State Department said in a statement titled “Degrading CJNG: Announcing over $100 Million in Reward Offers and Visa Restrictions.”
Oseguera, the founder of the CJNG and longtime leader of the powerful cartel, was fatally wounded by soldiers during a military operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, on Feb. 22.
His 41-year-old stepson — a California native who is also known as “El R3,” among other aliases — was subsequently identified in media reports as a leading contender to become the new leader of the CJGN.
According to an online Department of State wanted poster, Valencia González was charged in October 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with “conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance for purpose of unlawful importation into the United States and use of a firearm during a narcotics transaction.”
US raises reward for a suspect already in custody
The U.S. State Department announced a reward of up to $15 million — an increase from up to $5 million — for the conviction of Audias Flores Silva, aka “El Jardinero” (The Gardener), who was detained by the Mexican Navy in Nayarit in April.
Prior to his capture, the 45-year-old Michoacán native was a “regional commander” of the CJNG, according to the State Department.
“In addition to his narco-trafficking activities, Flores Silva is the alleged leader of CJNG’s timeshare fraud operations in Nayarit, including a major operation centered around the Kovay Gardens resort targeting vulnerable Americans,” the State Department said in an online poster.
“… The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward increase of up to $15 million for information leading to the conviction of Flores Silva,” the State Department said.
Rewards of $2 million to $15 million for 6 other suspects
The State Department said it is also offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytán, aka “El Sapo” (The Toad), who is said to be a godson of Oseguera.
Mendoza is a “senior leader” of the CJNG and “controls most of the cartel’s operations in Jalisco,” according to the State Department. The 37-year-old Michoacán native was also mentioned in media reports as a possible successor to “El Mencho.”
The State Department is also offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the capture and/or conviction of Julio Alberto Castillo Rodríguez, a son-in-law of the now-deceased Oseguera.
Castillo, known as “Chorro” and “Ojo de Vidrio” (Glass Eye), is a “senior member” of the CJNG and runs the cartel’s “daily operations in Colima, including by exercising control over parts of the port of Manzanillo, one of Mexico’s busiest ports,” according to the State Department. The 49-year-old is also a native of Michoacán, the state where “El Mencho” was born.
The State Department is offering rewards of up to $10 million each for Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, aka “Tripa” and “Doble R”; Julio César Montero Pinzón, aka “El Tarjetas”; and Carlos Andrés Rivera Varela, aka “La Firma.”
Ruiz, who was also mentioned in media reports as a possible successor to Oseguera, is a senior CJNG “lieutenant” and “leader of ‘Grupo Élite,’ a CJNG paramilitary group known for its extreme violence,” according to the State Department.
Montero is an “alleged high-ranking leader” of the CJNG who “allegedly directed an international complex fraud scheme targeting Americans who own timeshare properties in Mexico.”
Rivera, a native of Colombia, is “an alleged high-ranking leader” of the CJNG who also “allegedly directed an international complex fraud scheme targeting Americans who own timeshare properties in Mexico,” according to the State Department.
The State Department is offering a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Griselda Margarita Arredondo Pinzón, an “alleged high-ranking financial operator” for the CJNG. She is Montero’s half-sister, according to U.S authorities.
State Department announces US visa restrictions on relatives and associates of people linked to CJNG
In the same statement, the State Department announced that it was “imposing visa restrictions on 65 individuals who are family members or close personal or business associates of persons linked to CJNG” and who have been sanctioned under Executive Order 14059: Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.
It said that 26 of those individuals “had existing visas, which have now been revoked.”
“Since announcing this visa restriction policy in June 2025, a total of 93 visas have been revoked from family members and associates of sanctioned drug traffickers connected to FTO-designated cartels,” the State Department said.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio’s leadership, violent cartel operatives and their criminal facilitators are no longer able to enter our country and terrorize the American people.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to social media on Wednesday to tout the new rewards and visa restrictions.
“The United States is hunting down, dismantling, and destroying Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación,” he wrote on X.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson shared Rubio’s X post, writing above it:
“The pressure on the cartels and narcoterrorist organizations continues. … Under the leadership of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump, working alongside Mexican authorities, we are dismantling cartel leadership and holding accountable those who traffic deadly narcotics, such as fentanyl, and spread violence.”
The pressure on the cartels and narcoterrorist organizations continues. The United States announced criminal charges targeting senior CJNG leaders and more than $100 million in rewards for information leading to their capture. Under the leadership of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump,…
— Embajador Ronald Johnson (@USAmbMex) August 5, 2026
A blow to the CJNG in Spain
Separately, the National Police of Spain (CNP) announced on Wednesday that its agents, in a joint operation with the French Anti-Narcotics Office OFAST, had “broken up a branch of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) allegedly dedicated to the international trafficking of methamphetamine, and dismantled all its logistics infrastructure in Spain, including a clandestine laboratory.”
Thirteen people who allegedly belong to the criminal group were detained in operations in the cities of Lleida, Barcelona and Tarragona. Seven Mexicans, four Spaniards and two Colombians were arrested in the three cities, all of which are located in the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain.
The CNP said that the CJNG cell allegedly brought into Spain from Mexico “2.5 tonnes of methamphetamine camouflaged in approximately 12 tonnes of liquid vanilla flavoring.”
The confiscation of the meth was “one of the largest seizures” ever in Spain and Europe, the CNP said.
Mexico News Daily
