They seemed like two young people swimming in success. He, a promising businessman with several real estate and hotel businesses, dedicated to managing investments in the entertainment and hospitality worlds. She, an ambitious entrepreneur in the makeup world with her own party dress store and the owner of a luxury spa. This Monday, the ostentation bubble burst when the Treasury Department published their names on the sanctions list for facilitating the Los Chapitos criminal network, as well as the list of all their companies involved in the drug money laundering network in Mazatlán. The couple of José Raúl Núñez Ríos and Sheila Paola Urías Vásquez are under scrutiny by US authorities for their involvement with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The facade of prosperous businessmen began to crumble when the US Treasury Department discovered that Núñez was amassing his fortune at a suspicious speed. This 44-year-old lawyer, born in Rosario, Sinaloa, founded his first company in late 2019, before the pandemic. It was Grupo 247 Real Estate, dedicated to the construction and sale of properties. On social media, he promoted real estate investment opportunities near the coast and beaches of Mazatlán. “Imagine the house of your dreams facing the sea, listening to the waves, watching the sunrise. All of this is possible by investing in houses in the Playa Brujas neighborhood. Contact us, we will make your dreams come true,” read his first posts.
His wife, Sheila Paola Urías Vásquez, 31, is a well-known figure in Mazatlán for her work as a makeup artist on social media. Urías started a YouTube channel in 2017 where she showcased her makeup skills in tutorials for her large green eyes. In less than a year, she opened a beauty salon and spa offering massages and cosmetic treatments. She cut the red ribbon on the establishment accompanied by her family, including her sister Melissa, who was a candidate for local representative for the Green Party at just 24 years old. Urías herself lent her face, covered in clay masks, to advertise the establishment’s services. Soon, the place began to be frequented by models and influencers, such as Sinaloa beauty queen Pety Juárez.
Núñez and Urías managed to acquire or establish up to a dozen companies for their network in just six years. Most of them were related to real estate development, but also to the world of fashion and beauty, or the hospitality industry. Ten of these companies have been sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury for their links to the Sinaloa Cartel. US authorities claim that Núñez finances the operations of Víctor Manuel Barraza Pablos, the Los Chapitos plaza boss in Mazatlán. He is also accused of being a “close associate” of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, one of the fugitive sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Núñez and Urías’ companies play a specific role in each part of the real estate development chain, from the acquisition of lots, obtaining construction materials, and selling or renting them through real estate agencies or even a marketing agency to promote them. In 2024, Urías registered the company Bloquera Real MX, dedicated to manufacturing and selling blocks, partitions, and bricks. However, neither this company nor the real estate company Ocean Plus, of which he was the administrator in 2024, appear on the preliminary list of those sanctioned by the United States. In 2020, Núñez acquired the construction company Proyecta Interna, created the previous year. This company had permits to develop, sell, or lease real estate, as did Grupo 247 and Beach and Marina.
Luis Pérez de Acha, a lawyer specializing in money laundering, explains that the real estate sector is very attractive for money laundering because it requires large investments. “The challenge lies in how cash is incorporated into the financial system. It’s used as a front system, but money laundering involves real transactions that pay taxes,” the specialist points out. He also points to the suitability of the real estate boom Mazatlán has experienced over the past five years, providing the perfect breeding ground. Furthermore, Mexico allows a limit of up to 907,000 pesos for the use of cash for real estate purchases, a high amount that makes it difficult to trace its origin.
In real estate development, there are several ways to incorporate illicit money into the financial flow, where it is mixed with legal funds to obscure its origin. Payments for land, materials, architect’s fees, and labor wages can all be made in cash. Construction companies routinely use cash in most transactions, from the beginning to the end of the sector’s chain, according to Salvador Díaz de León, a money laundering prevention specialist. “You have the real estate agency, the developer, the materials supplier, the transportation company, and you have a human resources company for the labor force. There’s a chain of related companies that allow for laundering,” he explains.
Within Núñez and Urías’ companies, there were also hospitality businesses, especially beach clubs. In these establishments, it’s easier to simulate legitimate operations by inflating sales figures or increasing invoices. One of them was the Sea Wa Beach Club, created in 2024 and licensed not only for bar, restaurant, and fishing as a tourist activity, but also for renting cabins, bungalows, and tourist apartments. Núñez was also the legal representative of the company Club Playa Real, created in 2000, in which he later became involved. As with Beach and Marina or Comercializadora Copado (an import-export company), these companies were registered several years before Núñez and Urías joined as representatives. Díaz de León indicates that it is common in money laundering schemes to “reactivate” previously created entities, as they have a legitimate operational and financial history that helps them go more undetected.
In addition to the beach clubs, Urías owned a party dress store, available for purchase or rent for special occasions. The store is on the corner of the Grupo 247 Real Estate offices, where luxury cars were frequently seen parked. Urías only appeared publicly at this store and the spa; she appears as a temporary manager or shareholder at the other companies. “Putting anyone in as a front or front person takes the spotlight off the owner and puts it on someone who doesn’t pull the strings. It allows another individual to remain in the shadows. It’s a shielding strategy to protect oneself,” Díaz de León points out. This newspaper has attempted to contact the companies that have not yet deleted their websites, such as the spa and the real estate agency, and has not received a response.
Both Pérez de Acha and Díaz de León agree that the change in US policy toward Mexican drug cartels, now considered a terrorist organization, has ignited the hunt for financial facilitators for criminals. However, the Sinaloa Cartel has countless resources to weave complex money laundering networks with the advice of high-profile lawyers and accountants, both inside and outside Mexico. Following the US Treasury Department’s announcement, it is now the turn of Mexican financial institutions to notify the Financial Intelligence Unit of these companies so that they may be brought under scrutiny by the authorities. For now, their assets and properties in the United States are frozen.
Source: elpais
