MEXICO CITY, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Two brothers were charged with laundering money for the country's largest drug trafficking group, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, said the Attorney General's Office (PGR) on Wednesday.
The pair are brothers-in-law of cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or "El Mencho," one of the most sought-after criminals in Mexico.
Arnulfo and Ulises Gonzalez Valencia, members of a known crime family, were arrested in June in the western city of Guadalajara for allegedly working as financial operatives and drug traffickers for the cartel.
Victor de la Garza, head of the PGR's specialized unit for narcotics investigation, said that the brothers were charged with possession of cocaine and methamphetamine with the intent to sell.
Ulises was also charged with possession of weapons and ammunition, which were discovered at the moment of his arrest.
Federal Police Commissioner Manelich Castilla said that the brothers were considered part of the top level of the criminal organization, which has been responsible for violence in at least seven Mexican states.
In 2016, Arnulfo set himself up in Bolivia to launder money through real estate operations, which also served as a way to traffic cocaine north to Mexico and the United States, said Castilla.
Ulises, on the other hand, worked under fake names as a real estate salesman to launder money and traffic drugs.
Castilla said that the brothers' closeness to Oseguera Cervantes allowed them to make use of an international network, with connections in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay and Mexico.
Jalisco New Generation, the cartel with the largest physical presence across Mexican territory, was created in 2010 by former allies of the Sinaloa cartel.
Authorities have blamed the cartel for a number of crimes in Guadalajara this year, including the disappearance of three film students and an assassination attempt against the former Jalisco prosecutor-general.
