(Reuters) -The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Wednesday on individuals and companies based in or near Puerto Vallarta accused of running timeshare fraud schemes on behalf of Mexico-based Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
The U.S. Treasury and State Department said the schemes, often run through call centers staffed by English-speaking telemarketers impersonating brokers, attorneys, or government officials, defrauded U.S. citizens by charging advance fees and taxes under false pretenses.
The Treasury said the cartel obtained information about U.S. timeshare owners in Mexico through insiders at resorts and used this data to perpetrate resale, re-rent, and investment scams.
According to FBI data, victims reportedly lost nearly $300 million to timeshare fraud schemes in Mexico between 2019 and 2023.
The sanctions target assets from four Mexican individuals and 13 Mexican companies used to support the cartel’s enterprise, the Treasury said.
“We are coming for terrorist drug cartels like Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion that are flooding our country with fentanyl,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“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,” Bessent added.
The U.S. considers the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion a foreign terrorist organization and responsible for a significant share of fentanyl and other illegal drugs entering the United States.
(Reporting by Benjamín Mejías Valencia;)
