NEW YORK, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States is sanctioning five Mexico-based leaders of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) as specially designated global terrorists.
In a statement posted Wednesday on the website of U.S. State Department, its spokesperson Tammy Bruce holds the cartel responsible for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and other illicit drugs into the United States.
Targets of the sanction include CJNG leader Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, aka "El Mencho," as well as Audias Flores Silva who controls clandestine laboratories used to produce methamphetamine and other illegal drugs trafficked to the United States.
The department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, through its Narcotics Rewards Program, is offering a reward of up to 15 million U.S. dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Oseguera and a reward of up to 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Flores.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 signed an order to designate CJNG as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
In the United States, fentanyl is a leading cause of death among people aged 18 to 49, as well as associated violence.
