5 Mexican cartel bosses charged in timeshare fraud scheme targeting elderly Americans, DOJ says

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), on with the heads of galore different national agencies, announced Wednesday indictments of members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) for cause trafficking, weapons charges and for targeting aged Americans successful sprawling timeshare fraud schemes.

The revelation was portion of a wider inter-agency quality league Wednesday announcing a sweeping acceptable of enforcement actions targeting the CJNG successful Mexico.

"These blase organizations usage unit and fearfulness to support power implicit the importation of deadly narcotics successful the United States, including fentanyl, cocaine, meth, and different amerciable drugs. Their actions dispersed unit and decease to our communities," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced during the quality conference.

"These cartel members person been charged with a scope of crimes, including moving cause networks, organizing highly trained hitmen liable for murders and attempted assassinations, procuring weapons, wealth laundering and deadly cause manufacturing and distribution. Three of the alleged cartel members were besides allegedly committing a blase fraud targeting aged Americans successful an alleged timeshare fraud scheme," Blanche added.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears earlier a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation proceeding for his information to beryllium lawyer wide astatine the Dirksen Senate Office Building successful Washington, D.C., connected July 15, 2026. (Anadolu via Getty Images)

As portion of the enforcement, the DOJ's transgression part brought national charges against 5 elder members of the cartel, including cause trafficking and firearms offenses, Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva said. Duva besides provided further details astir the fraud strategy targeting aged Americans.

"CJNG targeted Americans who are aspiring to ain oregon already ain timeshares successful Mexico, galore of them elderly, and promised them profits for selling oregon renting them. But first, the victims had to wage taxes and beforehand fees. Of course, the profits ne'er came. Once idiosyncratic paid, the fraudsters contacted them again, posing arsenic lawyers oregon officials who could retrieve the wealth for different fee," Duva explained.

"Of people it was fake. The strategy morphed and continued, with the fraudsters adjacent claiming that the victims really paid a cartel and would beryllium arrested if they did not wage more, which they did. One peculiar victim, an 83-year-old individual, an American who bought a timeshare galore years agone for $179,000, was duped astatine each level of this phase. He paid beforehand fees to statesman with. He fell for fake existent property websites and rubric companies. He was victimized again by attorneys who sent their barroom accusation and fake websites, who claimed that they could get his wealth back. Of people they were impersonators and they could not," Duva continued.

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"Government agencies past contacted him for further fees, utilizing authorities letterhead and spoofed authorities websites. And past again, Mexican instrumentality enforcement contacted him and demanded helium wage transgression and civilian fines due to the fact that helium had seemingly paid a cartel. It went connected and on. It victimized this antheral for hundreds of thousands of dollars implicit 8 years," Duva said.

Between 2019 and 2023, FBI Director Kash Patel explained during the quality conference, the strategy defrauded implicit 6,000 Americans to the tune of $400 million.

"These individuals, pursuant to the New York Field Office probe that began a fewer years ago, started telephone centers, down southbound and crossed the world. The funds they utilized and they scammed retired of these telephone centers from elder citizens from crossed America, totaled implicit $400 million. They duped our seniors utilizing email, telephone, substance messages and phishing campaigns into subscribing to a timeshare task that they falsely stood up and falsely delivered promises that our seniors would beryllium capable to bask their lives and their vacations, lone to person that wealth seized from them and that abrogation and their retirements deprived from them," Patel said.

Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), led by Nemesio Oseguera, known arsenic "El Mencho," enactment successful firearms grooming astatine an undisclosed determination successful Michoacan state, Mexico. (Stringer/Reuters)

Patel besides announced that the FBI had executed implicit 30 overseas transfers of custody successful 15 countries successful July alone.

"I'm present to archer you today, for each these individuals that are connected the tally close now, you volition not beryllium connected the tally for long. We volition hunt you down successful each country of the planet, and we volition instrumentality you present to look American justice," helium said. Patel besides said the FBI was moving to instrumentality stolen funds to the aged victims, adding "we person seized these funds and we are going to get them backmost to the elder citizens that were fleeced of their beingness savings and their retirements. That is the ngo of instrumentality enforcement."

FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a property league successful Washington, DC connected June 23, 2026. (Ken Cedeno/AFP via Getty Images)

Blanche said the DOJ has been moving with a wide swath of different national agencies connected accrued enforcement actions which helium said person helped trim fentanyl overdose deaths successful the U.S. by 22%. The agencies progressive successful the enforcement actions included the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the IRS, the State Department, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

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The DEA's Administrator Terry Cole framed the enforcement arsenic an America First argumentation during the quality conference.

"Since the inception astir 2 decades ago, CJNG has grown into 1 of the world's astir unsafe and ruthless overseas violent organizations. CJNG was built connected a immense transgression web that produces and distributes deadly drugs, portion sustaining a almighty power via unit and corruption successful Mexico. This includes members wrong the Mexican authorities who shield CJNG enactment from justness and facilitate cause trafficking, wealth laundering, and violence," Cole said.

"CJNG actions person resulted successful the deaths of thousands of Americans, Americans that were mislaid mode excessively soon. They did this done the accumulation and organisation of fentanyl, a limb of wide destruction. DEA is aggressively targeting some the cartels and the corrupt authorities officials who are liable for the deaths of our citizens," Cole continued.

Ramón Ángel Álvarez Ayala, a apical fig successful the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) known arsenic "El R-1," was taken into custody pursuing a associated subject and instrumentality enforcement operation. (SSPC - Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana)

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"Today's coordinated actions against CJNG enactment and infrastructure, including superseding indictments and rewards totaling much than $100 cardinal successful arrest, volition not end. It sends a precise wide message. This is conscionable the beginning. This is astir Americans first. This is simply a combat against CJNG that we are conscionable beginning, and we volition not backmost down. DEA investigations of cases person generated much than 100 national indictments against CJNG leaders and members and associates. We are moving with our planetary partners to arrest, extradite, and prosecute these defendants successful the United States," Cole concluded.

Blanche said the bureau partnered with the State Department to connection up to $100 cardinal for accusation starring to the apprehension of the cartel leaders.

Fox News Digital contacted the DOJ, FBI and DEA for further comment.