The United States government is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, a.k.a. ‘Tripa,’ a senior member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación or CJNG.
CJNG was recently designated a foreign terrorist organization by President Donald Trump’s administration. The cartel poisons American communities with illicit fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. It is one of the most violent and dangerous narco-terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere. “They are responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands, and including American citizens,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Michael C. Gonzales.
Ruiz Velasco is a senior lieutenant for the cartel. He is a leader of “Grupo Élite,” a CJNG paramilitary group known for its extreme violence, under the direction of the cartel’s now-leader Juan Carlos Valencia González, a.k.a. “Pelón.”
On November 4, 2025, Ruiz Velasco was charged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine for importation, and to import one kilogram or more of heroin and 400 grams or more of fentanyl into the United States; and use, carry, brandish, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Ruiz Velasco also goes by the aliases “RR” and “Doble R”. He was born March 13, 1984 in Jalisco, Mexico. He has black hair and brown eyes.
The increased reward was announced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) and Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP).
If you have information, please contact the DEA by phone at 1-213-237-9990 (text/WhatsApp/Signal/Threema) or by email at CJNGtips@dea.gov.
If you are located outside of the United States, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. All identities are kept strictly confidential.