Mexican national admitted arranging more than $504,000 in tuition payments despite U.S. Treasury sanctions tied to the Los Cuinis drug trafficking organization and its alliance with CJNG.
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The ex-wife and current partner of a leader of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Los Cuinis pleaded guilty Tuesday to willfully violating U.S. counternarcotics sanctions.
Los Cuinis is closely aligned with the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which the U.S. State Department designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2025. Federal prosecutors said the case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative.
Fact Checklist
- Defendant: Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arevalo, 45, of Mexico
- Charge: Willfully violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act
- Organization: Los Cuinis
- Cartel Alliance: Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG)
- Sanctioned By: U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
- OFAC Designation: Aug. 19, 2015
- Tuition Payments: $504,497.48
- School: IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida
- Related Defendant: Gerardo Gonzalez Valencia
- Valencia Sentence: Life in prison (July 21, 2023)
- IMG Academy Settlement: $1.72 million (Feb. 12, 2026)
- Investigation: Homeland Security Task Force initiative
Amaral Arevalo faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $10 million. Sentencing has been set for Dec. 2.
According to court documents, Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arevalo, 45, of Mexico, pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, commonly known as the Kingpin Act.
Prosecutors said Amaral Arevalo engaged in prohibited financial transactions with IMG Academy, a preparatory school and athletic training facility in Bradenton, Florida, where her child attended school.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Amaral Arevalo on Aug. 19, 2015, for assisting the international narcotics trafficking activities of Los Cuinis.
As a sanctioned individual, she was prohibited from engaging in transactions involving the U.S. financial system. Despite those restrictions, prosecutors said she entered into contracts with IMG Academy and arranged $504,497.48 in tuition payments.
Her ex-husband and current partner, Gerardo Gonzalez Valencia, was sentenced to life in federal prison on July 21, 2023, after being convicted of conspiring to distribute large quantities of cocaine for importation into the United States.
Separately, on Feb. 12, 2026, OFAC announced a $1.72 million settlement with IMG Academy after determining the school entered into annual tuition agreements with Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) linked to a sanctioned Mexican drug cartel and accepted payments under those agreements.