DoJ indicts five CJNG leaders for drug crimes and senior-citizen timeshare scam
The Department of Justice announced federal charges against five senior members of Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel for drug trafficking, weapons offenses and a massive timeshare fraud that targeted elderly Americans.
In a multi-agency news conference, the Department of Justice revealed that five high-ranking members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel have been charged with drug trafficking, firearms violations and participation in a large-scale timeshare fraud aimed at senior Americans. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized the cartel’s role in flooding U.S. communities with fentanyl, cocaine and meth, while Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva described how victims were promised profits from Mexican timeshares, then pressured to pay successive “tax” and “recovery” fees through fake lawyers and even spoofed government letters.
One 83-year-old victim reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of dollars over eight years. FBI Director Kash Patel noted that between 2019 and 2023 the scheme swindled over 6,000 people out of about $400 million. The operation involved the FBI, HSI, IRS, State Department, CBP and DEA, and includes a reward pool of up to $100 million for tips leading to cartel arrests.
Why it matters
It exposes how a violent drug cartel is exploiting vulnerable seniors and underscores a coordinated U.S. crackdown on transnational crime.
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