U.S. Government Offers $26 Million in Rewards for Information on Mexican Terrorist Cartel Leaders

The U.S. government is offering up to $26 million in rewards for various leaders of the Mexican terrorist criminal organization Carteles Unidos. Some of those cartel leaders falsely claim to be leaders of self-defense movements.

On Thursday morning, the U.S. Department of State announced a series of large-scale rewards against the key leaders of Carteles Unidos. The leaders  and reward amounts are listed as:

• Juan José Farías Álvarez, a/k/a “El Abuelo” – up to $10 million;
• Nicolás Sierra Santana, a/k/a “El Gordo” – up to $5 million;
• Alfonso Fernández Magallón, a/k/a “Poncho” – up to $5 million;
• Luis Enrique Barragán Chávez, a/k/a “R5,” “Wicho,” “Güicho” – up to $3 million; and
• Edgar Orozco Cabadas, a/k/a “El Kamoni” – up to $3 million.

According to the State Department, Carteles Unidos originated as a loose alliance between smaller cartels that sought to combat the Knight Templars, and more recently, the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). Both Carteles Unidos and CJNG have previously been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. Department of State, Breitbart Texas reported.

Carteles Unidos is one of the cartels that moved heavily into the use of improvised explosive devices and land mines to target rivals and military forces. As Breitbart Texas reported, Carteles Unidos and CJNG have also been recruiting Colombian mercenaries and have been linked to the use of landmines, which have killed not only Mexican Army soldiers but also innocent victims.

One of the leaders of Carteles Unidos, Juan Jose “El Abuelo” Farias, has tried to hide his criminal activities by claiming to lead a self-defense group built to protect average citizens from drug cartels. As Breitbart Texas reported, Mexican authorities had initially arrested Farias in 2018; however, a Mexican judge issued a suspicious ruling claiming that his arrest had been illegal and ordered his release. Since then, Farias has been operating his criminal enterprise in Mexico with complete impunity.

In addition to the reward, federal authorities have issued a series of sanctions through the U.S. Department of the Treasury that prohibit U.S. citizens and businesses from having any ties with them.