By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.
A longtime Sinaloa Cartel leader pleaded guilty on Monday to drug conspiracy and money laundering charges. 54-year-old Jose Guadalupe Tapia-Quintero, of San Francisco de Tacuichamona, Sinaloa, Mexico, will be sentenced on February 2, 2026.
Jose Guadalupe Tapia-Quintero had been extradited to the United States from Mexico on February 27, 2025. He was the leader of an organization working under the Sinaloa Cartel, starting in December 2006 and continuing through March 2012.
Authorities considered him one of the biggest synthetic drug traffickers to the United States. He was seen as one of Sinaloa Cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia’s top guys.
He acted as a major coordinator, organizing the transportation and distribution of ton quantities of controlled substances, including methamphetamine, for importation from Mexico into the United States, primarily Arizona and California, for the cartel.
- READ: The End: Sinaloa Cartel kingpin “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia pleads guilty, faces life behind bars
During this time, he was also involved in the concealment of the ownership of the proceeds stemming from the sale of meth and other drugs in Arizona. He oversaw the collection of proceeds from the drug sales in the United States.
After the drugs were sold, the proceeds were collected and stored in the organization’s stash houses in Arizona and elsewhere. A large portion of the drug proceeds were picked up by couriers working at his direction and transported back to Mexico, where they were eventually received by him and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel.
If convicted on the drug charge, he faces a maximum penalty of up to life in prison. The money laundering charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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