Close Ally Of Jalisco Cartel Leader 'Chepa' Sentenced To Decades In Prison For Financing Drug-Trafficking Operations

A close ally of the Jalisco Cartel has been sentenced to decades in prison for his role in the financing of drug-trafficking operations, which included the use of so-called "narco submarines" and other methods to avoid detection.

Concretely, Jose Gonzalez Valencia was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal court in Washington. Known as "Chepa," he and his two brothers led a group known as "Los Cuinis," which financed drug-trafficking operations carried out by the Jalisco Cartel. He is the brother-in-law of Nemesio Ruben "El Mencho" Oseguera, leader of the mentioned criminal organization.

The Associated Press detailed that "Chepa" had gone into hiding in Bolivia in 2015. He was then arrested in 2017 while vacationing in Brazil with his family and in 2022 pleaded guilty to international cocaine trafficking.

Prosecutors claimed that "Los Cuinis" used "air, land, sea and under-the-sea methods" to smuggle drugs, including the use of a "narco submarine" to take 4,000 kilos of cocaine from Colombia to Guatemala. Drugs were also trafficked inside frozen shark carcasses, prosecutors added.

The development adds to a wide-ranging offensive from the Trump administration against the Jalisco Cartel, which it designated as a terrorist organization earlier this year.

Last Wednesday, "El Mencho" was among five people sanctioned for their roles in the organization's drug trafficking operations, as well as killings tied to it.

The sanctions freeze assets the people targeted have in the U.S., whether they are personal or part of a company, and prevents U.S. citizens from doing business with them. The U.S. is also offering $15 million for information that could lead to the capture of "El Mencho."

"CJNG's reign of terror across Mexico and its trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has destroyed countless innocent lives," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent when announcing the decision.

The other cartel leaders targeted by the sanctions are Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez (Oseguera's son-in-law) and Audias Flores Silva.

The cartel is one of the strongest ones in Mexico and has recently become the first group in the country to establish an operational presence across all 32 federal entities. U.S. and Mexican intelligence agencies have confirmed the CJNG's presence from Baja California to Yucatán.

"This is historic. Never before has a cartel had control or presence in all 32 federal entities. Not even the CDS (Sinaloa Cartel) in its prime," said Mexican organized crime expert and journalist Oscar Balmen, regarding a DEA map showing the expansion of the CJNG throughout the country: central, northern, and southern regions.