A Morena deputy from Tijuana took the podium at Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies on May 28 to champion a new law barring cartel-linked politicians from running in the 2027 elections. Standing beside him, nodding in agreement, was Araceli Brown Figueredo, the former mayor of Playas de Rosarito who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in September 2025 for alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Deputy Gilberto Herrera Solórzano, who represents Tijuana’s District 6, brought a group of Morena legislators to the podium for the speech. Brown did not speak but was photographed alongside Herrera as he declared: “The one who owes nothing, fears nothing. Through this initiative we can detect profiles that may be linked to narco-trafficking.” The chamber approved President Claudia Sheinbaum’s proposal during the special session.
U.S. Treasury Designated Brown as Sinaloa Cartel Member in 2025
Brown governed Rosarito from 2019 to 2024, a full five-year term that coincided with a period of rising cartel violence across Baja California’s coast. In September 2025, OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions arm) published a designation identifying Brown as part of the “Los Mayos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The OFAC filing accused her of protecting the faction’s regional operations during her time in office.
The designation placed Brown on the same sanctions list used against drug kingpins and terrorist financiers. Any assets she holds in U.S. jurisdiction were frozen. American citizens and companies are barred from doing business with her. The Trump administration had previously designated the Sinaloa Cartel’s factions as terrorist organizations, raising the legal stakes of the OFAC listing.
Mexico’s own Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), the federal agency responsible for tracking illicit money flows, froze Brown’s Mexican bank accounts almost immediately after the U.S. announcement. Yet President Sheinbaum said at the time that Mexico did not have sufficient evidence to open its own investigation into Brown. No criminal charges have been filed against her in Mexico. She remains a sitting federal deputy with full legislative privileges, including a seat in the same chamber that just voted to screen future candidates for cartel ties.
Brown won her federal deputy seat in 2024 on Morena’s ticket after completing her term as Rosarito’s mayor. Morena nominated her despite reports that U.S. law enforcement agencies had already been investigating her connections to organized crime. The party has not publicly commented on whether Brown’s OFAC designation conflicts with her continued membership.
New Law Creates Screening Commission but Has No Retroactive Clause
The legislation approved on May 28 modifies Article 42 of Mexico’s General Law of Electoral Institutions and Procedures (LGIPE). It creates a new body called the Commission for Verification of Candidacy Integrity. The commission would screen candidates before the 2027 midterm elections and block those with documented organized crime links from appearing on ballots.
The law is forward-looking. It applies to future candidacies, not to sitting legislators. There is no mechanism in the approved text to remove or suspend a current officeholder based on foreign sanctions or domestic intelligence findings. Brown could, in theory, serve out her full three-year term in Congress, which runs through 2027, without facing any consequence under this new framework.
Herrera used his speech to challenge opposition parties, naming PRI senator Alejandro “Alito” Moreno, PAN senator Ricardo Anaya, and former Tamaulipas governor Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca as examples of undesirable profiles who reached elected office. He told opposition lawmakers: “Voting against this measure means standing on the side of corruption, extortion, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, kidnapping, and money laundering.”
He did not mention Brown.
Rosarito Residents Lived Under Brown’s Administration for Five Years
Playas de Rosarito is home to thousands of American and Canadian residents who own property along the coastal corridor between Tijuana and Ensenada. During Brown’s tenure from 2019 to 2024, the city approved development permits, managed police operations, and oversaw municipal services that directly affected foreign property owners. If the OFAC allegations are accurate, those governance decisions were made by an official simultaneously serving cartel interests.
The OFAC designation also carries practical consequences beyond politics. Any U.S. person who unknowingly transacts with a sanctioned individual can face penalties. Rosarito businesses that had contracts with the municipal government during Brown’s tenure could, in theory, face scrutiny if funds flowed through accounts linked to her.
The screening commission is expected to begin operations before candidate registration opens for the June 2027 elections, though no specific launch date has been announced. The story was first reported by Punto Norte.