United States Drug Enforcement Administration

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a superseding indictment yesterday against Audias Flores Silva, also known as “Jardinero,” 45, of Mexico, a high-ranking leader of the Mexico-based drug trafficking organization the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). The superseding indictment expands on charges first filed in August 2020, when Flores Silva was accused of trafficking cocaine and heroin into the United States, now alleging he also trafficked methamphetamine and conspired to launder drug proceeds from the United States back to Mexico.

Before his capture on April 27 by Mexican authorities, Flores Silva was reportedly a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” the former top CJNG leader who died after a military operation to capture him in February 2026. The State Department designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025.

“Jardinero believed he would assume control of the violent foreign terrorist organization CJNG following the death of El Mencho. He was wrong.” said Administrator Terrance Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Yesterday’s superseding indictment demonstrates the combined strength of DEA and the Homeland Security Task Force in dismantling the command and control structures of the cartels and holding their leaders accountable. I thank the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR) for taking Jardinero into custody in Mexico. DEA and our partners will continue to relentlessly pursue the leaders of these terrorist organizations, disrupt their global operations, and protect the American people from the violence, poison, and chaos they spread.”

“Audias Flores Silva is charged with trafficking massive amounts of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine into our country and funneling the profits back to Mexico,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The drugs and violence that cartels inject into communities have no place in the United States. Our mission in the Criminal Division is to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations at every level, targeting their leadership, financing and operations and ensuring those who have harmed our country face justice.”

“The superseding indictment of Audias Flores Silva underscores how the Homeland Security Task Force and our partners are systematically targeting the command structure of violent cartels that traffic drugs, violence, and fear into our communities,” said Acting Executive Associate Director John A. Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “The HSTF will continue to marshal the full strength of our interagency and international partnerships to identify, disrupt, and dismantle these transnational criminal organizations wherever they operate.”

Flores Silva is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine for importation into the United States, use of a firearm, one of which was a destructive device, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and money laundering conspiracy. If convicted he faces a minimum penalty of at least 10 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison.

HSI and the DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Douglas Meisel and Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance.

MNF’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit investigates and prosecutes the top command and control elements of international drug cartels, drug trafficking organizations and related transnational criminal organizations.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.