FBI Arrests Del Records Executives for Working with Sanctioned CJNG Linked Music Promoter

"Socalj" & "HEARST" for Borderland Beat

On Tuesday, the FBI arrested two música Mexicana record label executives for doing business with a concert promoter with alleged ties to Mexican drug cartels in 2018.

Angel Del Villar, CEO of Del Records, and Luis Scalisi, CFO of subsidiary Del Entertainment, were arrested and later released on bail for allegedly conspiring to violate the Kingpin Act, which prohibits Americans from conducting business with foreign narcotics traffickers.

A third defendant named in the complaint – Jesus Perez Alvear, 37, of Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, a music promoter who controls Gallistica Diamante, a.k.a. Ticket Premier – is believed to be in Mexico. Perez, who promoted concerts in Mexico for Del Entertainment until March 2019, and Gallistica Diamante are listed as “Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers” under the Kingpin Act, which prevents people in the United States from conducting business with the two entities.

The complaint alleges that on April 19, 2018, FBI agents approached a well-known musician, referred to in the complaint as Individual A, and explicitly told Individual A about Perez’s designation under the Kingpin Act and how that prohibited him from conducting business with Perez and performing concerts that Perez promoted.

On April 28, 2018, Individual A performed at a music concert which Perez organized. Del Villar’s credit card was used to pay for a private jet that brought the musician from Van Nuys Airport to the performance in Aguascalientes, Mexico, according to the complaint. On four additional occasions in 2018 and 2019, Individual A performed at concerts in Mexico – specifically in Mexicali, Salamanca, Chiapas and San Jose Iturbide – all of which Perez promoted. Individual A acted at the direction or with the knowledge of Del Villar, Scalisi, and Perez.

Del Records Statement

In a statement to Rolling Stone, a rep for Del Villar denied the criminal charges made by the Department of Justice, and defended the label executives.

“The suggestion that they would knowingly be involved in anything related to illegal narcotics is absurd,” the statement read. “We believe the allegations stem from complaints of a disgruntled former business partner, and Mr. Del Villar and Mr. Scalisi look forward to clearing their names."

Though left unnamed and referred to in the criminal complaint as “Individual A,” Del Records’ former signee Gerardo Ortiz — known for his narcocorridos, or songs about the drug trade and cartels in Mexico — performed at Palestra Aguascalientes the night listed in the court documents. The complaint also alleges that 10 days prior to the performance, the FBI alerted Ortiz about Perez’s ties to drug trafficking and his designation under the Kingpin Act. He flew into the Mexican state on a private jet paid for by Del Villar and performed that night anyway.

Reps for Gerardo Ortiz did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

Del Villar and Scalisi are set to be arraigned on July 20, after being released Tuesday on $100,000 and $35,000 bond, respectively. If convicted of violating the Kingpin Act, they would face a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison each. Perez’s whereabouts are unknown, he is most likely in Mexico. If convicted, he could face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.

2020 FBI Raid of Del Records/Entertainment

The arrests of Del Villar and Scalisi come two years after the FBI conducted a raid at the offices of Del Records — the label behind acts such as Eslabón Armado, Los Del Limit, Lenin Ramirez, and Panchito Arredondo — in 2020 after the label sued Ortiz for wanting to be paid in cash for his performances in an alleged attempt to evade taxes. (The year prior, Ortiz had sued Del Records for fraud and breach of contract.)

At the time, Del Records had alerted the FBI that Ortiz had performed in Mexico for an alleged trafficker,. The label said at the time that it had not been “a subject but merely a source of information for the FBI’s investigation into Mr. Ortiz.” The footage caught a COVID-19 era FBI raid that feels reminiscent of 90s-era Death Row Records drama and underscores a growing sense of turmoil in what was once seen as the epitome of indie success in the narcocorrido world.

The events occurred at the DEL Records headquarters, located at 6400 Garfield Avenue, in Los Angeles County, California. According to Miguel Luna, FBI special agent, there were no arrests at that time.

The FBI executed four orders signed by a federal judge on Friday and entered the offices of DEL Records, the record company of Ángel del Villar, who is the former partner of Chiquis Rivera, daughter of the late Jenni Rivera who died in a plane crash in Mexico.

Del Records statement on Instagram following the FBI raid in 2020.

In a statement on the company's social media, Del Records said, “We are able to confirm that the Federal Bureau of Investigation came to the offices of Del Records today and took a number of materials that we understand relate to the FBI’s investigation of our former artist, Gerardo Ortiz. To the best of our knowledge, Del Records is not a subject, but merely a source of information for the FBI’s investigation into Mr. Ortiz. We have cooperated fully with the FBI and will continue to do so.”

Ortiz’s company, Bad Sin, fired back on its social media alleging the FBI also raided Del Records CEO Angel Del Villar’s home in Huntington Beach. “Today we learned the offices of Del Records and Del Entertainment Inc. were searched by the FBI, as well as the home of its owner, Jose Angel Del Villar, pursuant to a federally issued search warrant,” the statement said. “To our knowledge, the search by the FBI at Del Records office and Mr. Del Villar’s home does not involve Mr. Ortiz.”

On his personal Instagram, Del Villar posted a series of cryptic IG stories that served to show he was not detained in the raid and that he seemed to be handling it in stride. He was eating a burrito in one of them.

Narco-corridos singer Gerardo Ortiz performed at multiple concerts in Mexico, organized by CJNG/Los Cuinis linked promoter "Chucho".

Who is singer Gerardo Ortiz?

For his part, Ortiz remains a complex figure in the narco music world. He appears to be both a charismatic musical maven from the San Gabriel Valley and a notorious narco singer with incidents that parallel Chalino Sanchez’s and Tupac Shakur’s careers.

Over his 11-year career, the Mexican American artist has earned six No. 1s on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart and eight No. 1s on the regional Mexican albums list. His most recent LP, Más Caro Que Ayer, released in 2020 through Bad Sin/Sony Music Latin, debuted and peaked at No. 7. By the end of 2010, Ortiz was the top-selling regional Mexican act, and he won six honors at the inaugural Billboard Mexican Music Awards the following year, including artist and new artist of the year. The two-time Grammy Award nominee has earned 2.1 billion career on-demand streams, according to MRC Data.

In 2011, Ortiz’s album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums two weeks after surviving an ambush in Colima, Mexico that took the life of his cousin and manager Ramiro Caro and driver Abel Valle Rosales. In 2016, Ortiz was arrested by authorities in Guadalajara for an “obscene scene” in his music video “Fuiste Mía.”

According to a report by Billboard, “The video showed in graphic detail a relationship gone wrong, beginning with soft porn scenes inside the shower and ending with a lover shot dead between the eyes and the straying mistress fondled while bound and gagged, then tossed inside a car trunk.” The song went multiple times platinum.

While the past decade has brought Ortiz ample success, it also has come with “a lot of ups and downs,” he says: from having to defend his “Fuiste Mía” music video after a petition asked YouTube to remove it because it “promoted and incited violence against women” in 2016, to his 2019 legally messy departure from DEL Records, his label home for nearly his entire career. “I’ve learned that I’m not perfect and that actions have consequences, but I’ve been able to navigate those obstacles with professionalism and by continuing to deliver hits,” he says.

"I’ve learned that the type of corridos that resonate with fans are more emotional and nostalgic. For example, the part of “Más Caro, Que Ayer” that connected with the fans wasn’t about the controversial character [Rafael Caro Quintero]. It was the part about returning home to your land. I sing, “Que bonitos se ven los cerros cuando voy a mi ranchito.” [“The hills look so beautiful when I visit my ranch.”] In that moment, I’ve touched a very sensitive part in people because they start imagining their little rancho. It’s a very powerful hook that resonates strongly with my fan base." says Ortiz in a Billboard article.

Jesús Pérez Alvear, known as “Chucho Pérez” (left) with singer Julion Alvarez.

Who is "Chucho" Perez?

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), of the US Department of the Treasury, had added to its list of people sanctioned for alleged links to drug trafficking and money laundering, the Mexican music promoter Jesús Pérez Alvear, who is linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the criminal organization Los Cuinis. The organization also added several persons to the list that prevents Americans from making commercial or financial deals with those designated.

According to Sigal Mandelker, OFAC Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Jesús Pérez Alvear, known as “Chucho Pérez”, supported the CJNG and Los Cuinis “to exploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug profits and glorify their criminal activities”.

In the case of "Chucho Pérez", the US agency indicates that he launders money from drug trafficking through concerts carried out by his company "Gallística Diamante" in large fairs such as those in Aguascalientes and Metepec. The company was also added to the list of designations.

He has represented Julión Álvarez and Gerardo Ortiz and organized the palenque and casino of San Marcos, in Aguascalientes. His company was in charge of the San Isidro Fair, in Metepec, and in which Banda MS, Los Tigres del Norte, Los Ángeles Azules, Bronco, Gerardo Ortiz, Emmanuel y Mijares, Julión Álvarez, Carlos Rivera, Gloria Trevi and Alejandro Fernandez performed.

Pérez Alvear allegedly launders dirty money from the CJNG and Los Cuinis by mixing them with legitimate income generated by the sale of tickets, snacks, parking and other items. Among the artists presented by “Chucho Pérez” those who sing narcocorridos stand out, such as Julio César Alvarez Montelongo “Julión Álvarez”, who was designated by OFAC on August 9, 2017 for his links with the criminal organization of Raúl Flores “El Tío."

Authorities announced that Chucho was a romantic partner of Berenice González Valencia, sister of Abigael González Valencia, "El Cuini", one of the leaders of the CJNG.

The US government maintains investigations and arrest warrants against Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes "El Mencho", leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and his brothers-in-law, financial operators with surnames González Valencia (Los Cuinis), originally from Michoacán, since March 2014 when a federal grand jury in the District Court of Columbia indicted them on various charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering.

Sources: DOJ, Rolling Stone, LATaco, Variety, Zeta Tijuana, Reforma, Borderland Beat, Billboard