A. Tysen Duva

The U.S. Department of Justice announced federal charges against five senior members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) for drug trafficking, weapons offenses, and a timeshare fraud scheme targeting elderly Americans. The fraud involved deceptive tactics like fake government communications and impersonated lawyers to extract payments from victims.

Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada García, a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. and ordered to forfeit $15 billion in drug trafficking profits. Judge Brian Cogan cited the scale of drug distribution and murders linked to Zambada as justification for the sentence, while the U.S. Justice Department emphasized the conviction's role in dismantling the cartel.

A mother led a family-based sex-trafficking ring in Nashville, smuggling Venezuelan women into the U.S. and forcing them into commercial sex work. The group exploited victims by imposing inflated smuggling debts and using threats of violence, with nine members pleading guilty to human trafficking and related charges.

Vercel admitted to mishandling an FBI search warrant in 2025 by failing to locate user data in a deletion queue, leading to a civil contempt case. The company avoided penalties by agreeing to a stipulated dismissal, admitting wrongdoing, and updating its legal processes to ensure future compliance.

A Latvian national, Deniss Zolotarjovs, was sentenced to 102 months in prison for involvement in ransomware attacks that extorted nearly $16 million from over 54 companies. The attacks were carried out by a group led by former Conti leaders. The group's crimes resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.