Raul Flores Hernández is the leader of a criminal organization that operates primarily in Guadalajara, Jalisco, with a presence in Mexico City as well, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. ^[0]Although he operates independently, Hernandez maintains strategic alliances with the leadership of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación. His relationships with the leaders of these drug cartels have allowed the Flores Drug Trafficking Organization to operate since the 1980s. ^{[1] [0]}

In March 2017, federal drug trafficking indictments were returned in the District of Columbia and the Southern District of California against Hernández. ^[1]The Flores Drug Trafficking Organization includes a significant number of Hernández's family members and trusted associates, upon whom he heavily relies to further his drug trafficking and money laundering activities and to maintain assets on his behalf. Family members of Hernández designated today include Maria Icela Chavez Martinez, Felipe Flores Gomez, Kevin Sebastian Flores Chavez, Sendy Flores Castro, Moises Flores Esparza, Saul Flores Tinajero, Oscar Armando Jimenez Hernández, and Irma Lizet Damian Ramirez. Associates of Flores Hernandez designated today include Fernando Gustavo Alvarez Peralta, Diego Ayala Romero, Linda Elizabeth Campos Tirado, Efrain and Omar Caro Urias, Hugo Ivan and Victor Manuel Carranza Zepeda, Jose Antonio Cordero Cardenas, and Mario Alberto Fernandez Santana. Several of these individuals own or control a number of Mexican companies within the Flores DTO's business network. ^[2]Today's OFAC designations also include Mexican professional soccer player, Rafael Marquez Alvarez, and Mexican singer Julión Álvarez. Both men have longstanding relationships with Hernández, and have acted as front persons for him and his DTO and held assets on their behalf. Also designated recently are Mauricio Heredia Horner and Marco Antonio Fregoso Gonzalez for acting for or on behalf of Marquez. ^[1]