Gerardo González Valencia (alias El Lalo), former high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Era Cartel (CJNG) and its sister group Los Cuinis, was sentenced to life imprisonment as we speak within the US for drug trafficking.
In keeping with courtroom paperwork, Gerardo was concerned in multi-ton shipments of narcotics from Mexico and elsewhere into the US from 2003 to 2016. This included the confiscation of round 280 kilograms of cocaine present in a semi-submersible vessel intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and 750 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside frozen shark carcasses meant for transportation to the US.
“Gonzalez-Valencia’s prosecution marks one other step within the Justice Division’s pursuit of the highest management of drug-trafficking organizations like Los Cuinis and the CJNG,” mentioned Assistant Lawyer Normal Kenneth A. Well mannered, Jr. of the Justice Division’s Felony Division.
“The numerous sentence imposed as we speak additionally displays the magnitude of hurt these drug-trafficking organizations wreak on our communities. The Felony Division will proceed to carry accountable these like Gonzalez-Valencia, who revenue from importing giant portions of harmful substances into the US and who help the extraordinary violence dedicated in furtherance of that goal.”
Background
Gerardo González Valencia is half of a giant clan of at the very least 18 siblings, lots of them who had been suspected or are suspected of being concerned in drug trafficking. Individuals of their hometown in Michoacan nicknamed the clan “Cuinis” in reference to a squirrel (spermophilus adocetus) from the world that is named “Cuinique”. It’s common for this squirrel to have over a dozen infants every time the mom provides beginning.
Gerardo first captured the eye of US investigators within the Nineties when he was linked to a drug-related homicide within the state of California. Throughout this time, his brother Abigael Gonzalez Valencia (alias “El Cuini”) and his in-law Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (alias “El Mencho”) had been concerned in drug trafficking in California. However this Nineties cost didn’t garner sufficient consideration from US investigators and Gerardo fell off the radar for greater than a decade.
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| U.S. Workplace of International Property Management (OFAC) chart of a number of suspected members of the CJNG and Los Cuinis. Gerardo’s spouse Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo is pictured there together with different suspected cash launderers |
South America endeavors
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) offered proof to Argentina that the Mexican nationals had been doubtless linked to a drug cartel, however the Argentine officers weren’t capable of proceed the investigation efficiently.
Círculo Internacional S.A. acquired about US$1.8 million sums as paid-in capital and deposited them at Banco de la Nación Argentina. Investigators consider that the cash initially got here from Los Cuinis. However earlier than they may proceed their efforts, Gerardo fled to Uruguay along with his household.
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| In Uruguay, the household purchased a mansion generally known as “Quincho Grande” in an upscale neighborhood within the resort metropolis Punta del Este, Maldonado. The home was 15,052 sq. metres (162,020 sq ft) and was purchased at US$2 million. |
Along with his spouse Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo, Gerardo ran a big cash laundering scheme from Uruguay. The group invested thousands and thousands in properties and companies in Punta del Este and Montevideo, Uruguay.
