Gerardo González Valencia

Gerardo González Valencia (; born ) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a criminal group based in Jalisco. He is part of a clan that heads a CJNG money laundering branch known as Los Cuinis. He was responsible for coordinating international money laundering schemes by using shell companies to purchase assets in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. His wife Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo was reportedly working with him on this large money laundering scheme when the couple moved from Mexico to Uruguay in 2011.

The original documents of the investigation framing González Valencia were leaked in 2015 through the Panama Papers, where it detailed real estate transactions and industrial sector investments tied to him. After a multi-year investigation by Latin American officials and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, González Valencia was arrested in Montevideo, Uruguay, in April 2016, and imprisoned for money laundering charges. He was wanted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine. In May 2020, he was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2023.

Early life Gerardo González Valencia was probably born in 1976, (Following his arrest in 2016, sources stated he was 40.)

Judge Adriana Chamsarián rejected the habeas corpus of González Valencia. The judge considered that there was no evidence that there were "conditions of confinement that violated human dignity", as González Valencia had alleged in the habeas corpus. Uruguay's Organized Crime prosecutor, Luis Pacheco, asked Chamsarián to dismiss Gonzalez Valencia's proposal, although he recommended that the Ministry of the Interior follow a clear visitation regime. It asked the prison to allow González Valencia's family members to bring him food - something that was previously denied - and that González Valencia not be recorded when attending medical examination. During the habeas corpus process, the Ministry of the Interior asked the judge not to transfer the inmate to court hearings since authorities feared he could escape. For this reason, a videoconference hearing was held. In González Valencia's second hearing, the prosecutor and the judge went to jail to visit him.

Extradition process On 16 June 2016, the U.S. government issued an extradition request against González Valencia. The request was sent to the Embassy of the United States in Montevideo and then to the Ministry of Foreign Relations. From there it was transferred to the Supreme Court of Uruguay, where it reached a federal judge's hands. In the request, it stated that González Valencia was wanted for murder and drug trafficking charges in California since the 1990s. Uruguayan officials stated that keeping González Valencia in jail posed a risk because their prestige was in line.

On 16 April 2020, the U.S. government agreed that González Valencia would not face double jeopardy and that he would not be sentenced to death. However, they said they would not agree to the life imprisonment clause because it was a stipulated requirement in their extradition treaty. Since González Valencia already fulfilled his money laundering sentence in Uruguay, there was a possibility of him being released if a deal between both countries was not made. On 29 April, however, the Uruguayan government confirmed that González Valencia was extradition-ready.

Extradition and sentence On 14 May 2020, González Valencia was transferred from prison to the Carrasco International Airport and was flown to the U.S. under heavy security. He was sentenced to life in prison in July 2023 after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.