Mexican authorities seen capturing cartel leader Audias Flores-Silva Monday. Flores-Silva is allegedly one of the leaders of CJNG, and the U.S. had offered $5 million for information leading to his capture.
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A man who prosecutors said was a leader of major Mexican criminal organization, the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, faces new charges after a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment in New York.
The person in question is Audias Flores Silva, also known as “Jardinero,” or “The Gardener.” He was captured in April and now faces additional drug trafficking charges, according to prosecutors.
Flores Silva was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho” and who was killed by Mexican authorities in February 2026.
“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.
The State Department designated the CJNG, as well as other drug cartels, as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025.
Flores-Silva was first charged with drug trafficking and weapons violations in a federal indictment in August, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. eventually offered a reward of up to $5 million for his capture.
“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.”
Flores Silva is now charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, 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.
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