Today the U.S. Department of State announces a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Audias Flores-Silva, a high-level member of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG - Jalisco New Generation Cartel). This reward offer complements the Department of the Treasury's designation today of Flores-Silva under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. These actions are part of a whole of government approach to combating drug trafficking and transnational organized crime globally and in Mexico.
Flores-Silva is very closely aligned with the leader of the CJNG, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera-Cervantes, alias "El Mencho," who is also a designated target of the State Department Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) with a reward offer of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
Flores-Silva was charged in a federal indictment returned on August 13, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The indictment charges Flores-Silva with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and one kilogram or more of heroin for importation into the United States, as well as carrying, using, and possessing a firearm in relation to a drug offense.
This reward is offered under the Department of State's NRP. More than 75 transnational criminals and major narcotics traffickers have been brought to justice under the NRP and the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) since the NRP's inception in 1986. The Department has paid more than $130 million in rewards for information leading to apprehensions.
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) manages the NRP in close coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI), and other U.S. government agencies.
