Two Mexican Nationals Plead Guilty to Supporting CJNG Drug and Arms Trafficking in Texas

El Paso, Texas — Two Mexican nationals pleaded guilty in federal court to providing material support to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a designated foreign terrorist organization, for their roles in drug and weapons trafficking.

María del Rosario Navarro Sánchez, also known as “La Señora,” and Gustavo Castro Medina admitted their participation in the criminal network. Each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life. Both were turned over to U.S. authorities by the Mexican government through processes not covered by the extradition treaty.

According to court records, Navarro Sánchez negotiated the purchase of 20 AK-47 rifles and two .50-caliber rifles from undercover agents in August 2023. U.S. authorities arrested her accomplices when they attempted to pick up the weapons.

Castro Medina served as a financial intermediary, making an initial $3,000 payment for the firearms. He was previously stopped by Border Patrol in November 2020 with 36 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in his vehicle.

The investigation also implicated Brian Alexis Muñoz Castro, who stored and distributed methamphetamine and fentanyl at safe houses in El Paso under Navarro Sánchez’s direction, and René Hernández Cordero, who crossed the border from Ciudad Juárez with $63,000 in cash to complete the weapons purchase. Jesús Gerardo Ramos was tasked with smuggling the rifles into Mexico before federal agents intervened.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas formally charged the defendants in April 2024. The case was investigated by multiple U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies.

The CJNG was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, giving federal prosecutors broader legal tools to target anyone who supports the cartel. Under this designation, charges carry greater legal weight, allowing authorities to prosecute facilitators at any level rather than treating their actions as isolated smuggling offenses. The indictment treats the flow of narcotics into the United States and the export of heavy military weapons as direct threats to U.S. national security.