Daughter of Mexican drug kingpin pleads guilty in US court

The daughter of a powerful Mexican drug kingpin pleaded guilty in a US court Friday to financial dealings with companies on a drug traffickers blacklist, authorities said.

Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, 34, is the daughter of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, head of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, one of the most violent gangs in Mexico.

The United States considers Oseguera one its most wanted fugitives, with the Drug Enforcement Administration offering $10 million for his arrest.

Oseguera Gonzalez, a dual US-Mexican national, admitted property transactions with six Mexican businesses that the US government had deemed “specially designated narcotics traffickers,” the US Department of Justice said.

“These six businesses were so designated because they provided material support to the Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion,” it said.

Oseguera Gonzalez faces a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 11.

A resident of Guadalajara, Mexico, she was arrested in Washington on February 26, 2020, after attending a court hearing for her brother Ruben Oseguera Gonzalez, the cartel’s number two leader. He had been extradited to the United States on February 21.

Jalisco New Generation emerged in 2010 after the death of the regional leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Mexico’s biggest criminal group.

The Mexican government estimates the Jalisco New Generation cartel has amassed a $50 billion fortune.

It has a strong presence in nine Mexican states and connections with criminal organizations in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

In recent years, it has carried out attacks against military and police targets, including the 2015 downing of a military helicopter which killed 20 soldiers and a policewoman.

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