The United States on Thursday offered up to $26 million in rewards in exchange for information leading to the arrest of five alleged leaders of Carteles Unidos, a Mexican criminal organization recently designated as a terrorist group, and imposed sanctions against them in an attempt to cut off their sources of financing, according to Efe.
The State Department singled out Juan José Farías Álvarez, alias El Abuelo, for whom it offered up to $10 million; Nicolás Sierra, alias El Gordo, and Alfonso Fernández, alias Poncho, for whom it offered $5 million in exchange for information on each; and Luis Barragán, alias R5, and Édgar Orozco, alias El Kamoni, for whom it offered $3 million.
U.S. authorities identify them as leaders of the Carteles Unidos organization dedicated to fentanyl production as well as cocaine trafficking from Colombia.
This organization emerged in Michoacán as a coalition of local criminal groups to halt the advance of the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG).
The bounty offer was accompanied by financial sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department against Carteles Unidos and Los Viagras.
“Treasury, together with our law enforcement partners, continues to attack the cartels’ efforts to generate revenue for their criminal and violent schemes,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement.
These new actions by the US government come two days after the extradition from Mexico of 26 high-profile drug traffickers accused of cocaine trafficking, murder and other crimes. They are also accused of continuing their criminal operations from Mexican prisons.
The extradited individuals, who belong to different criminal organizations, are in New York, where authorities have filed charges against them, the second mass surrender of drug traffickers agreed between Mexico and the United States since Donald Trump’s return to the presidency last January.
The Trump Administration designated eight Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, issued more than 150 federal warrants for drug trafficking and terrorism, and deployed more than 5,000 military personnel to the southern border and the Caribbean, according to official data.
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com.
