Scams Targeting U.S. Victims Produce Significant Revenue for CJNG
WASHINGTON-Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four Mexican individuals and 13 Mexican companies linked to timeshare fraud led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). These individuals and companies are based in or near Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination that also serves as a strategic stronghold for CJNG. A brutally violent cartel, CJNG is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) that is increasingly supplementing its drug trafficking proceeds with alternative revenue streams such as timeshare fraud and fuel theft.
“We are coming for terrorist drug cartels like Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion that are flooding our country with fentanyl,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “These cartels continue to create new ways to generate revenue to fuel their terrorist operations. At President Trump’s direction, we will continue our effort to completely eradicate the cartels’ ability to generate revenue, including their efforts to prey on elderly Americans through timeshare fraud.”
Treasury has taken a series of actions targeting the diverse revenue streams benefitting the cartels, including fuel theft, human smuggling, extortion, and fraud. As Treasury and its partners seek to disrupt the cartels’ revenue streams, it is important to remind current owners of timeshares in Mexico: If an unsolicited purchase or rental offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Those considering the purchase of a timeshare in Mexico should conduct appropriate due diligence.
Today’s action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets the proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists and their supporters. Today’s action was also taken in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Government of Mexico’s financial intelligence unit, the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF).
CJNG: VIOLENCE IN PURSUIT OF PROFIT
CJNG is considered one of the most powerful cartels in the world. It has conducted intimidating acts of violence, including attacks on the Mexican military and police with military-grade weaponry, the use of drones to drop explosives on Mexican law enforcement, and assassinations and attempted assassinations of Mexican officials. CJNG has also executed its own recruits who defy orders. All of this is perpetrated in furtherance of CJNG’s relentless pursuit of illicit proceeds. In addition to drug trafficking, the group’s core source of revenue, CJNG is also generating alternative revenue streams through fuel theft, extortion, and timeshare fraud, among other activities.
On April 8, 2015, OFAC designated CJNG pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking. On December 15, 2021, OFAC also designated CJNG pursuant to E.O. 14059. On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of State designated CJNG as an FTO and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
PARADISE LOST: TIMESHARE FRAUD IN MEXICO
Mexico-based cartels have been targeting U.S. owners of timeshares through call centers in Mexico staffed by telemarketers fluent in English. Beginning in about 2012, CJNG took control of timeshare fraud schemes in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, and the surrounding area. These complex scams often target older Americans who can lose their life savings. The lifecycle of these scams can last years, resulting in financial and emotional devastation of the victims while enriching cartels like CJNG.