{"id":77478,"date":"2026-08-29T07:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T07:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/77478\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T07:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T07:58:16","slug":"the-california-ranch-owned-by-the-new-cjng-leader-which-the-trump-administration-is-seeking-to-seize-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/77478\/","title":{"rendered":"The California ranch owned by the new CJNG leader, which the Trump administration is seeking to seize | International"},"content":{"rendered":"

He used only his mother\u2019s surname \u2014 Gonz\u00e1lez \u2014 when he bought a ranch in California that was offered to him for $250,000. It was an investment Juan Carlos Valencia Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a> made in 2011, when he was 26, without anticipating that the property\u2019s value would nearly triple because of the U.S. state\u2019s fast-rising real estate market. He also did not imagine he would end up leading the Jalisco New Generation Cartel<\/a> (CJNG), which at the time had just been founded by his stepfather, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes<\/a>, \u201cEl Mencho.\u201d That was a bet Rodr\u00edguez, also known as \u201cEl R3\u201d or \u201cEl Pel\u00f3n,\u201d made 15 years before he became one of the world\u2019s most-wanted drug traffickers.<\/p>\n

The property Valencia Gonz\u00e1lez left behind when he went fully into crime is in Hemet, around 90 miles east of Los Angeles. It sits in a ranch community amid lots where horses graze, vacant plots, farmland, and upscale homes. Rocky, steep hills frame the pastoral landscape in the distance, far from the bustle of the United States\u2019 second-largest metropolis. The air is clean there, although occasional gusts carry the smell of manure. This was El R3\u2019s refuge whenever he wanted to get away from the streets of Santa Ana, the city where he was born in 1984 and where several of his relatives still live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep the gate closed. Don\u2019t trust what the horses tell you,\u201d \u201cBeware of dogs\u201d and \u201cSecurity cameras and audio recorder in use,\u201d warn the signs hung on the chain-link fence surrounding the ranch. Inside are two roosters, two dogs, a goat, and a sheep. A small, nearly dilapidated house, a wooden shed, an old, dust-covered pickup truck, and an American flag flying in the center are other signs that someone lives here.<\/p>\n

\"\"Property seized in a police operation.Gabriel Osorio<\/p>\n

For several years the U.S. government has had Valencia Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s ranch in its sights. The property is currently managed by the capo\u2019s maternal uncle, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia, who lives in Orange County, a source at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) told EL PA\u00cdS on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press about the matter.<\/p>\n

At the end of July, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a federal civil forfeiture action in the District of Columbia, alleging the property is connected to the newly anointed leader of the cartel<\/a>. The case, now before a judge in Washington, D.C., is being led by the Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section, a unit of the DOJ Criminal Division.<\/p>\n

The rise of El Mencho\u2019s stepson<\/p>\n

Valencia Gonz\u00e1lez is the son of Rosalinda Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia<\/a> and Armando Valencia Cornelio, who went from being an avocado grower to one of the founders of the Milenio Cartel, a predecessor of the CJNG. That relationship was short-lived. Soon after, Rosalinda became the partner of El Mencho, with whom she had three children: Jessica Johanna, Rub\u00e9n, and Laisha Michelle Oseguera Gonz\u00e1lez, all born in San Francisco, California. Several of Rosalinda\u2019s brothers are also involved in the drug trade. Known as \u201cLos Cuinis<\/a>,\u201d authorities have identified them as the CJNG\u2019s financial arm.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Hemet ranch, valued at nearly $700,000, is owned by Juan Carlos Valencia Gonz\u00e1lez.Gabriel Osorio<\/p>\n

That family network propelled El R3 into the CJNG\u2019s top ranks, where he led the Grupo Elite, a hit-squad tasked primarily with protecting the cartel boss. The stepchild of El Mencho \u201corganized numerous violent acts… in addition to manufacturing, transporting, and distributing tons of narcotics,\u201d according to a statement from the Department of Justice, which in 2020 charged him with drug importation and firearms offenses.<\/p>\n

His coronation as the new leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel occurred this past February following the death of El Mencho during a military operation<\/a> in Jalisco. It was the culmination of a hunt for a slippery fugitive who, from hiding, controlled production and distribution of multiple drugs to dozens of countries while his criminal empire expanded into 21 of Mexico\u2019s 32 states. \u201cEl Mencho\u2019s demise did not end CJNG,\u201d DEA Director Terry Cole said at a recent press conference in Washington, D.C., where he confirmed Valencia Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s rise. \u201cIn our world, El Pel\u00f3n is the number one priority of DEA\u201d the official warned.<\/p>\n

A $25 million reward now hangs over Valencia Gonz\u00e1lez, one of the largest ever offered for a Mexican capo. By comparison, the reward for Rafael Caro Quintero<\/a>, the DEA\u2019s long-standing foe accused of killing one of its agents in 1985, reached $20 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re ranch people\u201d<\/p>\n

In the quiet city of Hemet, few know the owner of one of its ranches is a drug trafficker. He bought it in 2011 and registered it under the name Juan Carlos Gonz\u00e1lez. It covers 19,468 square meters \u2014 roughly the size of three soccer fields. The seller was an entity identified as Hemet Auto Center Leasing Inc. Although the property is zoned \u201cresidential,\u201d no building permits have been applied for in the past 15 years, according to Riverside County property records reviewed by EL PA\u00cdS.<\/p>\n

The sale closed at a price that was quite reasonable for the time: $250,000, mostly financed through a loan. Since then, its value has soared. The largest jump happened just months after the purchase: between 2012 and 2013 the price rose 51%. The property has seen annual increases of between 5% and 12%. The county assessor\u2019s office estimates the ranch could fetch up to $695,000 today \u2014 almost three times its original price. The tax bill has also risen. In 2025 the owners paid $3,747 in property tax, 7% more than the previous year, public records show.<\/p>\n

\"\"The residentially zoned property has not applied for any building permits in the past 15 years.Gabriel Osorio<\/p>\n

Sanctions the U.S. Treasury imposed<\/a> at the end of July on the CJNG\u2019s new head put his Hemet ranch squarely in the crosshairs. The designation by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) freezes assets and bank accounts the capo may hold in the United States and forbids U.S. persons and companies from engaging in transactions or business with him.<\/p>\n

A few days ago the horse trainer who rents the property, who asked not to be named, received a call from Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia, El Pel\u00f3n\u2019s uncle. The message worried him: \u201cYou have to leave,\u201d he was told, with no explanation. \u201cI didn\u2019t ask questions because it\u2019s not a good idea,\u201d says the man who has occupied the place for the past three years. Each month the capo\u2019s relative collects the $1,500 rent \u2014 always paid in cash.<\/p>\n

The tenant, originally from Mexico, has already moved his horses to a nearby farm. He now fears the government will take possession of the land before he can remove his belongings. \u201cEverything here is mine,\u201d he says, pointing to a pile of old metal, an equine treadmill, a saddle, the rickety little house, his dust-covered pickup and the other animals still on the property. When one of his roosters crows he looks at it and smiles. It is a hobby he, curiously, shared with the late El Mencho.<\/p>\n

\"\"The property is currently managed by the capo’s maternal uncle, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia.Gabriel Osorio<\/p>\n

The horse trainer says he knows little about who manages the property and nothing about its true owner. \u201cIt\u2019s not my business; mine is to pay the rent,\u201d he insists. He assumes the order to remove his animals and belongings means there will be no legal dispute with the government because they will choose to cede it. He says he met the now-CJNG leader through mutual acquaintances at a local estate some time ago. He believes Gonz\u00e1lez Valencia lives in Santa Ana and describes him as a \u201cgood guy, really nice.\u201d The only thing he\u2019s sure of, he says, is that he and his family \u201care ranch people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He used only his mother\u2019s surname \u2014 Gonz\u00e1lez \u2014 when he bought a ranch in California that was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1285,1287,3435,1283,29288,3970,95,5257],"class_list":["post-77478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-valencia","tag-dea","tag-jalisco","tag-los-angeles","tag-nemesio-el-mencho","tag-rafael-caro-quintero","tag-santa-ana","tag-valencia","tag-washington-d-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}