Law enforcement officials in the U.S. assisted a group of Mexican authorities in apprehending a Romanian national who was being sought out in Mexico over numerous extortions she allegedly made for Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG).
A group of Mexican and U.S. authorities reportedly made the arrest in San Isidro, California, apprehending a Romanian woman named Iulia after she allegedly engaged in extortion. Breitbart News, which had a journalist on the ground in Latin America in order to investigate the story, reported that Mexican officials will not put out Iulia’s last name because of a law that shields the identity of individuals who have not yet been convicted of an alleged crime.
A video posted to social media by well-known journalist Ian Miles Cheong allegedly showed numerous members of the CJNG armed with a massive amount of tanks and military-style vehicles. In the same clip, a man can be heard firing a repeating rifle into the air.
Meet the CJNG, or Jalisco New Generation Cartel. They’re armed to the teeth and have military equipment and experience.
Drug cartels are paramilitary now.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 18, 2020
According to an announcement by the Attorney General’s Office in Mexico City, Iulia was shipped to the nation’s capital via airplane following her arrest and now awaits trial at a local prison.
A video posted to Twitter showed Iulia being taken for her booking and displayed her mugshot.
— Policía de Investigación (@PDI_FGJCDMX) March 30, 2023
Breitbart, who had a writer from Jalisco, Mexico draft the report under the pseudonym “E.F. Robles” over concerns about safety, stated that Iulia’s case emerged in May 2022 after a woman in Mexico City said she was threatened by a person claiming they are with the CJNG. This person, allegedly Iulia, demanded the woman come up with a monthly payment for the cartel in order to not face punishment. Iulia then allegedly provided the victim with an account number in order to wire the money. According to investigators, she made one monetary submission before going to law enforcement, who then linked the information to Iulia before securing a warrant for her arrest.
It is reportedly not yet known if Iulia was, in fact, representing the CJNG or if she used the fear of association in order to bolster her own extortion scam.
