sinaloa - Blog - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-28T08:54:45Z
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/feed/tag/sinaloa
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of “El Chapo” and Sinaloa Cartel boss, extradited to US where he will face the music
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/ovidio-guzman-lopez-son-of-el-chapo-and-sinaloa-cartel-boss-extra
2023-09-16T12:41:07.000Z
2023-09-16T12:41:07.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12225086463?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>The story of a successful narco kingpin always has the same arc. There is the rise and the inevitable fall. The fall comes in the form of death or prison. No amount of power, money, bloodshed or a combination of all three can stop that. Not even when you are the son of “El Chapo”, the man once seen as the most powerful crime boss on the planet.</p>
<p>33-year-old Ovidio Guzman Lopez arrived in the United States yesterday after his extradition from Mexico. He faces a litany of drug trafficking charges.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Rise of Los Chapitos, Fall of Ovidio</strong></span></p>
<p>Ovidio decided to follow in the footsteps of his father, drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, and succeeded in becoming one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s chief bosses alongside his other brothers. Together they were nicknamed “Los Chapitos”. As they established control over their territory, they developed a reputation for extreme violence. </p>
<p>Authorities were eager to take Ovidio and his brothers down. In October of 2019 Mexican federal security forces arrested Ovidio in Culiacan. But things quickly escalated beyond the Mexican government’s control. When word of his arrest got out, Sinaloa Cartel sicarios occupied the city.</p>
<p>They threw up roadblocks and used military-grade weapons to attack the Guardia Nacional, local police, and the army. The Sinaloa Cartel effectively held the city hostage. This was their territory and they wanted their leader back. Authorities felt compelled to agree and released Ovidio several hours after his arrest. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he supported the release as it would “prevent more bloodshed”.</p>
<p>It seemed Ovidio was untouchable. Until January of 2023, when he <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/no-one-is-above-the-law-not-even-the-son-of-el-chapo-guzman" target="_blank">was arrested again</a>. Once more his cartel underlings caused chaos on the streets. Schools were closed and local government activities were canceled. The Mexican military even had to close Culiacan International Airport after gunmen began shooting at a military plane and a passenger plane of AeroMexico.</p>
<p>The Mexican government held tight this time and managed to keep Ovidio behind bars until he was extradited to the United States. That moment arrived on Friday when he was handed over to U.S. authorities.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>US indictment</strong></span></p>
<p>In April of this year, Ovidio, his brothers, and several other Sinaloa Cartel bosses and henchmen were <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/taking-the-fight-to-los-chapitos-sinaloa-cartel-hit-with-indictme" target="_blank">indicted by federal prosecutors</a>. They were alleged to have been engaged in drug trafficking activities into the United States, and violence, spanning over a decade and a half. The Chapitos are alleged to have repeatedly and consistently transported lethal amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl.</p>
<p>A network of couriers, tunnels, and stash houses throughout Mexico and the United States was used to further their drug trafficking activities. The Chapitos allegedly used these networks to import the drugs into the United States.</p>
<p>“The Chapitos pioneered the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl – the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced – flooded it into the United States for the past eight years and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans,” added DEA Administrator Anne Milgram at the time.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 19:</strong> On Monday, September 18, Ovidio stood in a Chicago courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit and orange slippers, his legs shackled at the ankles, and pleaded not guilty. </p>
<ul>
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Wife of drug lord “El Chapo” Guzman released from US prison
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/wife-of-drug-lord-el-chapo-guzman-released-from-us-prison
2023-09-14T04:15:43.000Z
2023-09-14T04:15:43.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12224017665?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was released from prison this week. She had been locked up since her 2021 arrest on drug and money laundering charges.</p>
<p>The former beauty queen <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/narco-kingpin-el-chapo-s-wife-gets-mere-3-years-in-prison-for-hel" target="_blank">had pleaded guilty</a> in 2021 to conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine for a period of at least 6 years, money laundering, and to helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. She was sentenced to a mere 3 years behind bars on November 30, 2021.</p>
<p>She served most of her time at FMC Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, a minimum-security federal prison. To serve out her remaining months in detention she was transferred to Long Beach Residential Reentry Management in California.</p>
<p>Aispuro and Guzman have two daughters together. The pair met while she was only just 17 with “El Chapo” being decades older. When she turned 18, they married. Guzman is currently doing life in a maximum security facility in Colorado after his <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-end-mexico-narco-kingpin-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sentenced-to" target="_blank">conviction in July 2019</a>. He was also ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture.</p>
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Sophisticated Sinaloa Cartel money laundering organization busted by feds
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/sophisticated-sinaloa-cartel-money-laundering-organization-busted
2023-04-16T07:29:41.000Z
2023-04-16T07:29:41.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11028738255?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>Americans are dying younger and younger. One of the reasons is their addiction to opioids and other narcotics. Though the War on Drugs seems a failure, authorities continue as before. Only this time they focus on the money. The root of all evil.</p>
<p>A two-year investigation by FBI and DEA has resulted in the indictment of twelve people, the takedown of a transnational criminal organization that allegedly laundered at least $16.5 million for the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Sinaloa cartel</a>, and the rescue of two victims of an extortion plot.</p>
<p>“Mexican drug cartels cannot succeed without money launderers,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “Our office will prosecute not only those who traffic in drugs but also those who enable the drug traffickers through sophisticated shell corporations and multiple bank accounts.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/befriending-a-capo-in-the-medellin-cartel-how-an-undercover-unit" target="_blank"><strong>Befriending a capo in the Medellin Cartel: How an undercover unit infiltrated the global drug trade</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Cristian Amaya Nava was the first to be sentenced in federal court Monday to 60 months in prison in connection with the extortion and money laundering charges. He admitted that in February of 2021, he forced two victims to withdraw funds from their own accounts to repay a drug debt, under threat of harm to themselves and their families. He also admitted that he laundered over $2.4 million for the cartel.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Complex money laundering organization</strong></span></p>
<p>An investigation was initiated in the fall of 2020 after FBI agents identified a complex money laundering organization allegedly led by Enrique Daan Esparragoza Rosas of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. The indictment said Esparragoza’s organization used a network of shell companies incorporated in Wyoming to launder millions of dollars in cash belonging to the Sinaloa Cartel. The shell companies and a sophisticated financial network were created and overseen by Luis Ramirez, a U.S. citizen residing in Mesa, Arizona.</p>
<p>Ramirez and Esparragoza allegedly directed and facilitated employees of the money laundering organization to travel to cities throughout the United States to pick up bulk cash belonging to narcotics traffickers. The employees picked up the bulk cash in Chicago, Omaha, Boston, New York City, Baltimore, Charlotte, Philadelphia and other cities.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/norman-s-cay-from-notorious-cocaine-pipeline-of-the-medellin-cart" target="_blank"><strong>Norman’s Cay: From cocaine pipeline of the Medellin Cartel to a fraudulent festival for rich millennials</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Narcotics traffickers delivered bulk cash in amounts of up to $200,000 to the employees in hotel rooms and parking lots. Following the delivery of the illegal money, the criminal organization laundered the funds through the shell companies and then transferred the laundered funds to bank accounts in Mexico. In total, dozens of bank accounts used by the organization were targeted, resulting in the seizure of $1 million from those accounts plus about $197,430 in bulk cash. </p>
<p>In November 2020, the FBI worked with the DEA Chicago Field Office to conduct an operation using information from the investigation which resulted in the seizure of 368 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 10 kilograms of heroin, allegedly from defendants Sugey Caro Salazar and Idsel Valenzuela in LaPorte, Indiana. They are accused of delivering cash to an employee of the money laundering organization.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/no-one-is-above-the-law-not-even-the-son-of-el-chapo-guzman" target="_blank"><strong>No one is above the law, not even the son of “El Chapo” Guzman</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Funds laundered by the organization were used to purchase a Volvo tractor-trailer that FBI agents seized near Las Vegas; and aircraft and aircraft engines for export to Mexico, among other things.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Extortion plot</strong></span></p>
<p>In the extortion plot, the FBI’s efforts resulted in a successful rescue of two victims who were being extorted by the money laundering organization in February 2021. Prior to the extortion, one of the victims, an employee of the money laundering organization, began stealing illicit funds from a bank account that he controlled for the organization. Under pressure from the organization to return the stolen funds, the victim and his family member concocted an unsuccessful scheme to repay the debt: He stole an additional $30,000 from the money laundering organization to purchase a tortilla machine, intending to resell it for a profit. The pair owed a substantial debt to the money laundering organization.</p>
<p>When Esparragoza and Ramirez learned of the theft, they conspired to threaten and extort the pair to repay the funds. Esparragoza sent Amaya Nava to threaten the men and their families. Amaya Nava has admitted that he drove the two men around Imperial and San Diego County to collect money from bank accounts they controlled. According to admissions in Amaya Nava’s plea agreement, Esparragoza also directly threatened the men and their families during several phone conversations that day, telling them that two truckloads of men from Tijuana would “take care of them” if they did anything stupid.</p>
<p>The FBI learned of the ongoing extortion after being alerted by an informant and began tracking the victims and Amaya Nava’s movements. Amaya Nava drove with the men from El Centro to San Diego in an effort to collect additional money from an associate of one of the victims. FBI agents coordinated with the National City Police Department to conduct a traffic stop wherein Amaya Nava was arrested and the two victims were rescued. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Arrests and fugitives</strong></span></p>
<p>To date the investigation has resulted in the arrests of Amaya Nava and Luis Ramirez, who were charged with extortion and money laundering charges; Ivan Correia Zamora, Ricardo Torres, Kimberlly Reyes, Hector Francisco Vizcaino Moreno, Luis Armando Avila, and Cheliann Rivera Vazquez who are facing money laundering charges; Melvin Rosado (aka) Cristian Cruz Polanco has been arrested on money laundering and aggravated identity theft charges. Sugey Caro Salazar and Idsel Valenzuela have been arrested and charged with narcotics trafficking and money laundering. Enrique Daan Esparragoza Rosas has been charged with money laundering and extortion offenses. Enrique Daan Esparragoza Rosas has been charged with money laundering and extortion offenses. All but two defendants are pending trial. Enrique Daan Esparragoza Rosas and Ivan Correia are fugitives.</p>
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No one is above the law, not even the son of “El Chapo” Guzman
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/no-one-is-above-the-law-not-even-the-son-of-el-chapo-guzman
2023-01-06T13:55:02.000Z
2023-01-06T13:55:02.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10926514454?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>No one is above the law. But some gangsters become so powerful that they begin to think they are. Mexico’s narco elite can’t be faulted for thinking that they are untouchable. They get away with mass murder regularly. Bribes and threats are enough to keep the law at bay. But make no mistake: when the law targets them, they will go down.</p>
<p>El Chapo’s son Ovidio Guzman realized this yesterday when he was arrested by Mexican security forces before the crack of dawn in the small village of Jesus Maria, north of Culiacan, Sinaloa. The U.S. Department of State offered a $5 million reward for information leading to 32-year-old Ovidio’s arrest. In the United States, he faces multiple drug charges and a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Like father, like sons</strong></span></p>
<p>One would think that all gangsters realize that no matter how much power they accrue, the law always wins. This should be especially clear to the sons of one of the world’s most notorious drug lords, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. They saw their father rise to become arguably the most powerful man in Mexico. He became rich beyond belief, ranking among the ten wealthiest people in Mexico.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10926509681,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10926509681?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="520" /></a><em><strong>Photo: El Chapo after his arrest.</strong></em></p>
<p>Guzman’s decisions were a matter of life and death. His orders were a catalyst for untold horrors. He sent men, women, and children to their deaths and was the cause of horrific torture murders, all in the name of drugs, money, and power. It was never enough, no matter the cost of life and soul.</p>
<p>Despite all his might, El Chapo was taken down. It took a lot of time and effort on more than one occasion but in the end authorities managed to lock him up and extradite him to the United States. There, he was put on trial and found guilty of all counts. He was <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-end-mexico-narco-kingpin-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sentenced-to" target="_blank">sentenced</a> to life behind bars plus 30 years and is spending his remaining years at ADX Florence, the most secure supermax prison in the country.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-end-mexico-narco-kingpin-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-sentenced-to" target="_blank"><strong>The End: Mexico Narco kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>This ending illustrates perfectly that no one is above the law. Not even the man who once was the most powerful drug lord in Mexico, and perhaps the world.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Untouchable</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10926510891,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10926510891?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="300" /></a>Still, it’s a hard lesson to learn when one is sitting atop the narco elite. The past few years, Ovidio (left) was following in his father’s footstep. Ovidio and his brothers Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo became known as “Los Chapitos” and were destined to take over for their imprisoned father and become the leaders of the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Sinaloa Cartel</a>.</p>
<p>At that point it was hard to believe the law could touch them. Especially when every day they were seeing confirmations of their all-encompassing power. Underlings agreeing with every word they said, girls at their beck and call, the power to end lives with a small nod. And, most importantly, that police release you hours after you’ve been arrested – on orders from the president of Mexico.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/mexico-s-el-padrino-of-narcos-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-leaves" target="_blank"><strong>Mexico’s “El Padrino” of Narcos, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, leaves prison after serving 33 years</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Like happened when federal security forces arrested Ovidio in Culiacan in October of 2019. When word of his arrest got out, cartel gunmen occupied the city. They threw up roadblocks and used military-grade weapons to attack the Guardia Nacional, local police, and the army. The Sinaloa Cartel effectively held the city hostage. This was their territory and they wanted their leader back.</p>
<p>Authorities felt compelled to agree and released Ovidio several hours after his arrest. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he supported the release as it would “prevent more bloodshed”.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-dea-toppled-kingpin-el-chapo-guzman-who-s-mexico-s-drug-under" target="_blank"><strong>The DEA Toppled Kingpin “El Chapo” Guzman; Who's Mexico's Drug Underworld Next Boss of Bosses?</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Can you blame Ovidio for believing he was above the law?</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Cartel chaos: More roadblocks, schools and airport closed</strong></span></p>
<p>After his arrest yesterday, Ovidio’s men of the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Sinaloa Cartel</a> took to the streets again. They blocked the roads with burning vehicles. Local and state officials warned residents to stay inside. Schools were closed and local government activities were canceled.</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M4v1criOgAA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>The Mexican military even had to close Culiacan International Airport after gunmen began shooting at a military plane and a passenger plane of AeroMexico, which was about to take off. Passengers posted videos on social media of the scary moments inside the plane.</p>
<p>According to media reports, 29 people were killed in the riots. Among the people killed are 10 members of the Mexican military and 19 members of the Sinaloa Cartel.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/el-chapo-s-wife-moved-to-minimum-security-prison-to-serve-her-3-y" target="_blank"><strong>El Chapo’s wife moved to minimum-security prison to serve her 3-year sentence</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite the violence, this time authorities sat tight. Ovidio was flown to a prison facility in Mexico City where he will await the next phase of his career. Will he organize a prison break? Or will he end up like his father in a maximum security prison in the United States?</p>
<p>Whatever will happen now remains up for debate, but the end is near and predestined. No one is above the law. Not even the son of El Chapo.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>UPDATE JANUARY 7</strong></span>: A Mexico City federal judge halted the extradition of Ovidio to the United States on Friday. Another judge later ordered that he will be held in preventive detention for 60 days for the purpose of extradition after a hearing at the Altiplano maximum security prison where he is currently being detained. It is the same facility that once housed his father.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
The Sinaloa Cartel adds Butte, Montana, to its long list of distribution hubs
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/the-sinaloa-cartel-adds-butte-montana-to-its-long-list-of-distrib
2022-12-19T14:28:35.000Z
2022-12-19T14:28:35.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10913792253?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>The Sinaloa Cartel is flooding the United States like Walmart. With its infrastructure in place it seeks to push all sorts of narcotics onto the American user and do so from a location near them. The latest example of this corporate way of handling the drug business was found last week in Butte, Montana.</p>
<p>A multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization there resulted in the federal convictions of 22 people. The group had ties to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Sinaloa Cartel</a> and brought massive quantities of <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/pick-your-poison-what-drugs-are-there-and-what-s-their-story-gang" target="_blank">methamphetamine</a>, counterfeit <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/pick-your-poison-what-drugs-are-there-and-what-s-their-story-gang" target="_blank">oxycodone pills</a> containing <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/pick-your-poison-what-drugs-are-there-and-what-s-their-story-gang" target="_blank">fentanyl</a> and <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/pick-your-poison-what-drugs-are-there-and-what-s-their-story-gang" target="_blank">heroin</a> to Butte for redistribution.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Dope on the table</strong></span></p>
<p>The investigation began in 2019 and was one of the largest federal drug trafficking probes in Montana in recent years. The network is responsible for bringing more than 2,043 pounds of meth and 722,000 fentanyl-laced pills from Mexico to Butte for redistribution, with $2.98 million laundered in drug proceeds.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/mexico-s-el-padrino-of-narcos-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-leaves" target="_blank"><strong>Mexico’s “El Padrino” of Narcos, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, leaves prison after serving 33 years</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>During the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized 65 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 2,000 counterfeit oxycontin pills containing fentanyl and three pounds of heroin and seized $32,875 in cash and 19 firearms.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The link to Sinaloa</strong></span></p>
<p>According to court documents, this case began with a tip about a suspicious package, which eventually led to the 22 federal convictions of individuals from Montana, California and Mexico. At least three of the defendants have direct ties to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Sinaloa Cartel</a>. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/200-million-in-2-years-profile-of-sinaloa-drug-lord-victor-emilio" target="_blank"><strong>$200 million in 2 years - Profile of Sinaloa drug lord Victor Emilio Cazares Gastellum</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The operation smuggled drugs from Mexico to stash houses in Southern California, then transported multi-pound quantities by vehicle and through the mail to Butte. From Butte, local dealers trafficked the drugs to Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman, Billings and Wolf Point for street-level distribution. The dealers then laundered drug proceeds through the mail, cash shipments and wire transactions back to the Mexico suppliers.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Reveals the extent to which the Sinaloa Cartel has extended its reach into Montana”</strong></span></p>
<p>“The Sinaloa Cartel is one of two primary cartels responsible for flooding the United States with fentanyl and methamphetamine,” Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Rocky Mountain Division Brian Besser said at a press conference Thursday, December 15. “This investigation has revealed the extent to which the Sinaloa Cartel has extended its reach into Montana.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/drug-trafficker-who-shipped-tons-of-cocaine-into-chicago-laundere" target="_blank"><strong>Drug trafficker who shipped tons of cocaine into Chicago, laundered $50 million, gets 30 years in prison</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>“Far too often, we believe that cartel-related activity in America is limited to southern border states, but as these cases show, we have significant issues facing us in Montana, including in an area where I grew up,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. “Individuals associated with this network brought staggering amounts of methamphetamine, fake oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl, and heroin from Mexico and into Montana for distribution. This years-long investigation and prosecution shut down the flow of these dangerous drugs, held suppliers and local dealers accountable, and saved lives in Montana communities.”</p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
“There is no hiding place for such a man” - Profile of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/there-is-no-hiding-place-for-such-a-man-profile-of-mexican-drug-l
2022-07-17T16:43:01.000Z
2022-07-17T16:43:01.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10651699673?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>If you kill a DEA agent – or any member of U.S. law enforcement – then you better start digging two graves. One for your victim and one for yourself. Because they won’t forget, nor will they forgive. Infamous Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero was involved in the torture murder of DEA agent “Kiki” Camarena. He had tasted the DEA’s wrath, but thought he could outsmart them. He failed.</p>
<p>Rafael Caro Quintero’s story was the subject of the Netflix hit series Narcos: Mexico. Growing up dirt poor in Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Caro Quintero came from very humble beginnings. He worked in agriculture, mainly livestock grazing.</p>
<p>After realizing that this work meant long days with little reward, he began looking into other ways to make money. Intimately familiar with farming and horticulture, Caro Quintero applied his knowledge to marijuana – and how to set up a successful plantation himself.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>From narcotrafficante to kingpin</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10651698857,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="177" alt="10651698857?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Within just a few years Caro Quintero (right) had made so much money that he was able to buy several ranches and expand his operations. He did so while working closely with established narco kingpins Pedro Avilés Pérez and Ernesto “Don Neto” Fonseca Carrillo.</p>
<p>Money was pouring in for the Mexican drug lords and pretty soon they needed to establish the rules of the game. Who were the power players? Who decided how the game was to be played? In the late 1970s, Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, and <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-real-narcos-profile-of-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-mexico-s-e" target="_blank">Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo</a>, the Godfather of Mexico’s Narcos, set up the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Guadalajara Cartel</a> and began dominating the drug underworld.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-real-narcos-profile-of-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-mexico-s-e" target="_blank"><strong>The Real Narcos: Profile of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexico’s “El Padrino” of drug lords</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The DEA labeled the Guadalajara Cartel as one of the primary suppliers of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the United States in the late 1970s and 1980s.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Marijuana plantations</strong></span></p>
<p>Caro Quintero was growing enormous amounts of marijuana on thousands of acres of land. He did so with impunity. All the cops, judges and politicians were in the pockets of the Guadalajara Cartel. It almost felt like he wasn’t doing anything illegal. Just growing crops. Some would grow beans or corn, he grew marijuana.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for him, his product was indeed illegal (at that time).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10651698479,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="300" alt="10651698479?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a>A dedicated team of DEA agents was working at uncovering the drug pipelines supplying America’s users with dope. Among them was Enrique “Kiki” Camarena (right), who worked as an intelligence officer. “Kiki” was hard as nails. He had joined the Marines after finishing High School before joining the police and working as an undercover.</p>
<p>“Kiki” was dedicated. And he was on to Caro Quintero and his gigantic marijuana fields.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Up in smoke</strong></span></p>
<p>One such enormous field was located on a ranch called El Búfalo in the state of Chihuahua. It was 2,500 acres. When Mexican authorities raided it in November of 1984 they found over 10,000 tons of marijuana. They burned it all. Over $150 million went up in smoke.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>WATCH: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/video/jailed-mexican-drug-lord-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-talks-about" target="_blank"><strong>Jailed Mexican drug lord Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo talks about DEA agent "Kiki" Camarena</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>That day, the Guadalajara Cartel and its bosses realized they could be caught and hurt by the DEA. Incensed at what they perceived as flagrant disrespect and a serious threat to their organization, the cartel’s leadership ordered the kidnapping of those it deemed responsible for the raid on their marijuana farm: “Kiki” Camarena and Alfredo Zavala Avelar, the pilot who flew over the ranch to gather proof of its existence.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">The murder of “Kiki”</span> </strong></p>
<p>Several months later, on February 7, 1985, both men were grabbed off the streets of Guadalajara and taken to 881 Lope de Vega in the colonia of Jardines del Bosque. It was a home owned by Caro Quintero.</p>
<p>More importantly, it was the scene of a horrible crime. Both men were tortured for hours. Their interrogators recorded it all on tape. All the words, the screams, and the moans as the men succumbed. Only for their torturers to wake them up for another round.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-real-dea-agents-of-narcos-javier-pena-and-steve-murphy-talk-a" target="_blank"><strong>The Real DEA Agents of Narcos Talk Fact & Fiction</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>After 30 hours it ended. “Kiki” Camarena's dead body was wrapped in plastic and dumped outside the small town of La Angostura, in the state of Michoacán, where it was discovered on March 5, 1985.</p>
<p>Killing a DEA agent is declaring war on the United States and its service members. Every organization now wanted a piece of the Guadalajara Cartel and its kingpins. The DEA, of course, had dibs. It launched Operation Leyenda, the largest homicide investigation ever undertaken in the DEA’s history.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Locked up</strong></span></p>
<p>As a result, Caro Quintero was arrested in Costa Rica in 1985. He was convicted of ordering Camarena’s kidnapping, torture, and murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison. U.S. authorities pleaded for his extradition to the United States, but were unable to get their Mexican counterparts to oblige.</p>
<p>This case illustrated how intertwined narcos and politicians had become. Corruption festered and had been tolerated as long as it was about narcotics being smuggled into the U.S. But now it had ballooned and threatened to take down the entire Mexican government.</p>
<p>It was best to keep the masterminds of such a horrendous crime in Mexico. Where they would keep their mouths shut. And who knows, maybe one day things would be different.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>A technicality</strong></span></p>
<p>That day arrived in 2013 when an appeals court overturned Caro Quintero’s verdict, ruling that he should have been tried in a state rather than a federal court. He was released from prison after serving 28 years. When the Supreme Court upheld the sentence, it was already too late: Caro Quintero had vanished.</p>
<p>Respected and revered as one of the founding Godfathers of the narco underworld, Caro Quintero was welcomed back with open arms. According to the FBI, he returned as a senior leader of the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Mexican authorities claimed Caro Quintero was involved in trafficking methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana.</p>
<p>U.S. authorities put up a $20 million dollar reward for his arrest in 2018 and <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/videos/wanted-by-the-fbi-rafael-caro-quintero-added-to-ten-most-wanted" target="_blank">added him to FBI’s 10 most wanted list</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10651696056,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10651696056?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>Still, Mexico didn’t seem all that eager to find and arrest him. Politics trump justice, after all.</p>
<p>So the years came and went. Until Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador visited U.S. President Joseph Biden in the White House last week.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Hiding in the bushes of Sinaloa</strong></span></p>
<p>Three days after the visit, on Friday, July 15, 2022, the Mexican Navy flew Black Hawk helicopters filled with Marines into the town of San Simón, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa. One chopper crashed, resulting in the death of 14 Marines.</p>
<p>Enough made it onto the ground to begin their search. The Marines were accompanied by Max, a specially-trained bloodhound. Max took his handlers to a bunch of bushes where he was sure they would find their target: Rafael Caro Quintero.</p>
<p>Indeed they did. Hiding down in the bushes was the elusive 69-year-old drug lord (photo below).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10651696300,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="10651696300?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>DEA agents based in Mexico had worked with Mexican authorities to pin point Caro Quintero’s location and arrest him. “For more than 30 years, the men and women of DEA have worked tirelessly to bring Caro Quintero to justice,” DEA administrator Anne Milgram said. “Today's arrest is the result of years of your blood, sweat, and tears. Without your work, Caro Quintero would not face justice.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/cali-cartel-boss-gilberto-rodriguez-orejuela-dies-in-u-s-prison" target="_blank"><strong>Cali Cartel boss Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela dies in U.S. prison</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said in a statement late Friday that he was arrested for extradition to the U.S. and would be held at the maximum security Altiplano prison about 50 miles west of Mexico City.</p>
<p>“There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures, and murders American law enforcement. We are deeply grateful to Mexican authorities for their capture and arrest of Rafael Caro Quintero,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said. He added that Caro Quintero will be tried “in the very justice system (DEA) Special Agent Camarena died defending.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
Sinaloa Cartel member gets life in prison for racketeering and drug trafficking
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/sinaloa-cartel-member-gets-life-in-prison-for-racketeering-and-dr
2022-03-07T19:50:41.000Z
2022-03-07T19:50:41.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10176207454?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>A member of the Sinaloa Cartel was sentenced to life in an American prison last Thursday. 50-year-old Arturo Shows Urquidi (photo above), of Juarez, Mexico, was found guilty of racketeering and drug charges on October 22, 2021. Nicknamed “Chous,” Shows Urquidi was a former Chihuahua State police officer and a long-time member of the Sinaloa Cartel under Ismael “Mayo” Zambada-Garcia.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10176208069,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="150" alt="10176208069?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Shows Urquidi assisted in the security of stash houses where thousands of kilograms of cocaine were unloaded from tanker trucks and then reloaded with weapons and money headed for Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. During his involvement with the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Sinaloa Cartel</a>, the cartel successfully imported thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States worth over $1 billion.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/in-pictures-filmmaker-gives-inside-look-at-daily-life-of-sinaloa" target="_blank"><strong>In Pictures | Filmmaker gives inside look at daily life of Sinaloa Cartel foot soldiers</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>His co-defendant, 36-year-old Mario Iglesias-Villegas, who goes by the nicknames “Dos,” “El 2,” “Delta,” “Parka,” and “Grim Reaper,” was also found guilty of racketeering; one count of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country; and one count of kidnapping. He is scheduled for sentencing on March 24.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Cartel wars</strong></span></p>
<p>The Sinaloa Cartel’s criminal activity in the Ciudad Juarez and El Paso area included the violence that occurred during the war between the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Juarez Cartel</a> and the Sinaloa Cartel, which led to the death of thousands of people in Ciudad Juarez and throughout the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Durango. The violence gave rise to Ciudad Juarez being named the “deadliest city in the world.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Seizures</strong></span></p>
<p>This investigation resulted in the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, thousands of pounds of marijuana in cities throughout the United States. Law enforcement also took possession of millions of dollars in drug proceeds which were destined to be returned to the cartel in Mexico. Agents and officers seized hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition intended to be smuggled into Mexico to assist the cartel’s battle to take control of Juarez and the local drug trafficking corridors.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“The long arm of the law reaching across international borders”</strong></span></p>
<p>“The sentencing of Shows Urquidi is another strike against members of the Sinaloa Cartel and highlights the long arm of the law reaching across international borders,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey, El Paso Field Office. “Today exemplifies our commitment to prevent violence and criminal activity from poisoning the communities of El Paso and our sister city, Ciudad Juarez. It also sends a clear message that we and our partners will relentlessly pursue and prosecute the leaders and members of these violent drug enterprises.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
El Chapo’s wife moved to minimum-security prison to serve her 3-year sentence
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/el-chapo-s-wife-moved-to-minimum-security-prison-to-serve-her-3-y
2022-02-22T05:27:09.000Z
2022-02-22T05:27:09.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10144111853?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was transferred to FMC Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, a minimum-security federal prison, to serve out her 3-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.</p>
<p>She had pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine for a period of at least 6 years, money laundering, and to helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. She was <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/narco-kingpin-el-chapo-s-wife-gets-mere-3-years-in-prison-for-hel" target="_blank">sentenced to a mere 3 years behind bars</a> on November 30, 2021.</p>
<p>Despite admitting to these heavy crimes, authorities apparently don’t see her as a flight risk nor as a dangerous inmate. The 32-year-old former beauty queen did express remorse during her sentencing. “My daughters are the most important motive for which I accept my mistakes and I ask for forgiveness for them,” she said in court. “I don't want my daughters to grow up without their mother.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-dea-toppled-kingpin-el-chapo-guzman-who-s-mexico-s-drug-under" target="_blank">The DEA Toppled Kingpin “El Chapo” Guzman</a>; Who's Mexico's Drug Underworld Next Boss of Bosses?</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>In the coming 3 years her daughters will probably do a lot of growing up. It is unfortunate that they will do so without their mother nearby. If Coronel Aispuro manages to stay out of trouble from now on, however, she will be able to be present for all the years after.</p>
<p>Of course, in the narco underworld such things are never set in stone.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
In Pictures | Filmmaker gives inside look at daily life of Sinaloa Cartel foot soldiers
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/in-pictures-filmmaker-gives-inside-look-at-daily-life-of-sinaloa
2022-02-21T16:05:57.000Z
2022-02-21T16:05:57.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10142880886?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>In recent years, “Narcos”, “El Patron” and “Sicario” have become household terms thanks to Netflix and countless of media reports on drug cartels operating in the Americas. A Google search conjures up plenty of gruesome images of the violence committed by these cartels. But an honest, inside look usually is overshadowed by sicarios putting up a display of power on Instagram. The book Sicario Warfare and documentary Sinaloa Foot Soldier: Inside a Mexican Narco-Militia look to change that.</p>
<p>34-year-old Venezuelan filmmaker Eduardo Giralt Brun was in Mexico in 2018 working for a director who wanted to shoot a film about cartel youngsters. Giralt Brun then got the idea of making a documentary about the subject on his own, <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-02-16/an-inside-look-at-mexicos-sinaloa-cartel.html" target="_blank">El País newspaper</a> reports.</p>
<p>“I focused on the gatilleros, the foot soldiers,” Giralt Brun tells <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-02-16/an-inside-look-at-mexicos-sinaloa-cartel.html" target="_blank">El País</a> about his 2021 documentary titled Los Plebes. “The stigmatized young men who also suffer from that hegemonic masculinity. And 90% told me they didn’t want to participate. But then we found La Vagancia, who is a great character.”</p>
<p>Filmed in 2018, Los Plebes shows La Vagancia in the early stages of his criminal career. “As the years passed La Vagancia rose up the cartel’s chain of command,” <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-02-16/an-inside-look-at-mexicos-sinaloa-cartel.html" target="_blank">El País</a> reports. “From a foot soldier, he went on to lead his own combat unit and train new recruits. It was at this time that La Vagancia sent Giralt Brun and Massú a memory card with photos and videos. The change in La Vagancia, as well as the criminal group itself, can be seen in Sicario Warfare and Sinaloa Foot Soldier.”</p>
<p><em>See the photos and read the entire interview on <a href="https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-02-16/an-inside-look-at-mexicos-sinaloa-cartel.html" target="_blank">El País</a>.</em></p>
<ul>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
Middletown drug boss with ties to Sinaloa Cartel sentenced to 25 years in prison
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/middletown-drug-boss-with-ties-to-sinaloa-cartel-sentenced-to-25
2022-01-17T15:16:40.000Z
2022-01-17T15:16:40.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10018267654?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>A local drug boss with ties to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel was sentenced to 25 years in prison last week. 28-year-old Donte Holdbrook was one of 12 individuals charged by a Cincinnati federal grand jury in March 2018 in a narcotics and money laundering conspiracy.</p>
<p>Holdbrook’s local drug trafficking organization trafficked over $1 million in fentanyl and heroin in the region. After Holdbrook was arrested in late 2016, Middletown Police officials reported that fatal and non-fatal opioid overdoses in Middletown fell by approximately one third.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Purdue Pharma</strong></span></p>
<p>The opioid epidemic began when legitimate companies like Purdue Pharma run by the Sackler family corrupted politicians into favorable laws so they could push their addictive drugs onto regular patients.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/drug-kingpin-freeway-rick-ross-moving-tons-of-cocaine-with-a-nod" target="_blank">Drug kingpin “Freeway” Rick Ross</a>: Moving tons of cocaine with a nod of approval from the White House</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>After Purdue Pharma was dealt with – some say with a slap on the wrist – the hole in the market they left behind was filled by local drug traffickers and Mexican cartels.</p>
<p>Members of Holdbrook’s group distributed fentanyl from Mexico in Middletown and sent proceeds back to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. A number of others were charged in San Diego, California, in a related case.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Undercover FBI investigation</strong></span></p>
<p>The investigation began when undercover FBI agents in San Diego learned that a known Sinaloa Cartel money laundering boss named Jose Lopez-Albarran coordinated and conducted multiple bulk cash pickups from a drug trafficking organization within Ohio.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/sinaloa-cartel-distributor-who-supplied-crips-gangster-disciples" target="_blank">Sinaloa Cartel distributor who supplied Crips</a>, Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords for two decades gets 15-year term</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Lopez-Albarran was one of 40 defendants charged in the Southern District of California. According to court documents there, he and other members of the cartel allegedly laundered tens of millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds from the United States to Mexico between 2015 and 2018. Through the investigation in California, law enforcement discovered multiple drug trafficking cells throughout the United States.</p>
<p>The Middletown drug trafficking cell led by Holdbrook sent drug proceeds back to the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico via Lopez-Albarran. Holdbrook was found to be in possession of 366 grams of fentanyl during a traffic stop on December 2, 2017, and he arranged for multiple shipments of fentanyl and heroin into the Middletown area.</p>
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Sinaloa Cartel member who oversaw large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering operation gets 15 years
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/sinaloa-cartel-member-who-oversaw-large-scale-drug-trafficking-an
2022-01-14T18:20:41.000Z
2022-01-14T18:20:41.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10012406054?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>A member of the Sinaloa Cartel was sentenced Monday to over 15 years in prison for supervising the smuggling of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin from Mexico into the United States and the smuggling of money back the other way. </p>
<p>39-year-old Roberto Gallegos-Lechuga (photo above), who hails from Sinaloa, Mexico, was extradited from Mexico to the United States in March of 2020. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit international money laundering in July of 2021.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: $200 million in 2 years - </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/200-million-in-2-years-profile-of-sinaloa-drug-lord-victor-emilio" target="_blank"><strong>Profile of Sinaloa drug lord Victor Emilio Cazares Gastellum</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>He coordinated the smuggling of large quantities of illegal narcotics through ports of entry in Southern California and supervised and managed couriers who smuggled hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash at a time from the illegal sale of drugs, from the United States to Mexico.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Other defendants</strong></span></p>
<p>Seven other defendants have previously pleaded guilty in the case and been sentenced. They are: Omar Ayon-Diaz, Osvaldo Contreras-Arriaga, Cesar Hernandez-Martinez, Gibran Rodriguez-Mejia, Oscar Rodriguez-Guevara, Bianca Acedo Ojeda, and Joel Acedo Ojeda. In addition, approximately 20 other individuals linked to the scheme who served as drug and money couriers and drug stash house operators have entered guilty pleas and been sentenced in related cases. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Priorities</strong></span></p>
<p>“Those who manage drug trafficking and money laundering efforts for the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most violent criminal organization in the world, will continue to face justice in this district,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman for the Southern District of California. “Stopping the flow of funds to drug cartels and of deadly drugs into the United States continues to be a priority for us and our law enforcement partners.”</p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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Narco kingpin El Chapo’s wife gets mere 3 years in prison for helping husband run business
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/narco-kingpin-el-chapo-s-wife-gets-mere-3-years-in-prison-for-hel
2021-12-01T19:45:16.000Z
2021-12-01T19:45:16.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9868735500?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Behind every successful man is a strong woman. Sometimes more than one. But in the case of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, his current wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, has especially proven her worth. Still, their success came to an end in an American court.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Emma Coronel Aispuro (photo above) was sentenced to three years in prison after she pleaded guilty to money laundering and drug conspiracy charges as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. As part of that deal she also surrendered $1.5 million dollars.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/nypd-cop-who-moonlighted-as-bodyguard-for-el-chapo-s-wife-had-sid" target="_blank">NYPD cop, who moonlighted as bodyguard for El Chapo’s wife</a>, had side gig trafficking cocaine</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>“Peanuts,” as they say in the narco underworld. Both the sentence and the money.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Queenpin facing life behind bars</strong></span></p>
<p>Back when Coronel Aispuro was <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/wife-of-el-chapo-busted-on-international-drug-trafficking-charges" target="_blank">arrested</a>, earlier this year, prosecutors came on much stronger. Back then, she was looking at life in prison.</p>
<p>They alleged she played a pivotal role in her husband’s drug empire, charging her with knowingly and willfully conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine over a period of several years.</p>
<p>She admitted this in her plea deal.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Prison Break</strong></span></p>
<p>She helped El Chapo run his Sinaloa Cartel while behind bars, carrying messages to his underlings on the outside. Even better, she helped her hubby plan his escape through a tunnel dug underneath a Mexican prison in 2015 by smuggling a GPS watch to him disguised as a food item. Guzman used the watch to allow the crew digging the tunnel to be able to pinpoint his location and reach him.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: $200 million in 2 years - Profile of </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/200-million-in-2-years-profile-of-sinaloa-drug-lord-victor-emilio" target="_blank"><strong>Sinaloa drug lord Victor Emilio Cazares Gastellum</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite the successful prison break, authorities eventually caught Guzman and he was quickly extradited to the United States where he was sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison in 2019 after he was convicted on murder conspiracy and drug charges.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>So, so, so very sorry!</strong></span></p>
<p>After Coronel Aispuro pleaded guilty in June, prosecutors began to mellow. Especially after she showed remorse. Her lawyers argued that she was still a teenager when she married Guzman. She herself told the judge, via a Spanish translator, she had “true regret for any and all harm. I am here before you, asking for forgiveness.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>WATCH: Rare footage of </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/watch-rare-footage-of-drug-lord-joaquin-el-chapo-guzman-entering" target="_blank"><strong>drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman entering prison</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>She wanted to watch her young twin daughters grow up, she said. Prosecutors and the judge obliged. Prosecutors recommended a 4-year prison term. The judge handed out three. Not too shabby for helping your husband run a multibillion-dollar drug cartel responsible for thousands of murders and the gruesome torture of countless others.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Danger</strong></span></p>
<p>Though this short sentence is a gift, all may not be well for Coronel Aispuro, according to her lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman. He said that her life may be in danger if she ever set foot in Mexico again, after media outlets reported that she cooperated with U.S. authorities. He added: “I'm not sure that she could ever go back home.”</p>
<p>With her husband locked up in a maximum-security prison in the United States, she might decide to stay close by. For her love, but also because things might be safer.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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Colombian crew that smuggled tons of cocaine using “narco-submarines” pleads guilty
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/colombian-crew-that-smuggled-tons-of-cocaine-using-narco-submarin
2021-09-15T08:24:37.000Z
2021-09-15T08:24:37.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9568377883?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>When it was first discovered that drug cartels were now using submarines to smuggle their product minds around the world were blown. Nowadays, it’s part of the business and hardly raises an eyebrow. Six men pleaded guilty on Monday to plotting to smuggle cocaine into the US using “Narco-Subs”.</p>
<p>The men were part of a crew that dispatched self-propelled semi-submersible vessels, sometimes known as narco-submarines, from Colombia into the Pacific Ocean, destined for Sinaloa Cartel members in Oaxaca, Mexico.</p>
<p><strong>“Padrino”</strong></p>
<p>They served various roles and responsibilities such as overseeing security at the submarine construction sites and building the fiberglass hulls for these vessels. 40-year-old Fernando Pineda-Jimenez was identified as, and admitted to, being the boss of the organization. He was nicknamed “Padrino” as a result.</p>
<p>The U.S. interdicted three submarine vessels in international waters in July and August 2015, and March 2016. The vessels had departed from Colombia and were on their way to Mexico. The first sub carried approximately 6,900 kilograms of cocaine, the August 2015 sub carried approximately 6,845 kilograms of cocaine, and the March 2016 sub contained approximately 5,824 kilograms of cocaine.</p>
<p>In total, the submarine vessels carried over 19,000 kilograms (or nearly 42,000 pounds) of cocaine. A substantial portion of that cocaine was ultimately intended for the U.S. A separate submarine, linked to Rodrigo Pineda-Torres, was seized in October 2017 in Colombia before it could be loaded with cocaine. </p>
<p>Fernando Pineda-Jimenez and his crew members pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges and all face a minimum mandatory of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum term of life in prison.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p> </p></div>
$200 million in 2 years - Profile of Sinaloa drug lord Victor Emilio Cazares Gastellum
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/200-million-in-2-years-profile-of-sinaloa-drug-lord-victor-emilio
2021-08-19T05:32:17.000Z
2021-08-19T05:32:17.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9445488101?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Victor Emilio Cazares Gastellum can be viewed as being among the elite of Mexico’s narcos. He has close, family, ties to Sinaloa Cartel bosses “El Chapo” Guzman and “El Mayo” Zambada and made hundreds of millions while moving tons of cocaine into the United States. His wealth was illustrated by his lavish ranch, which contained horse stables, a swimming pool, a playground, and a church.</p>
<p>Cazares Gastellum grew up in the Sierra Madre mountains, but moved to the Los Angeles area in the 1990s, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to the LA Times. He was busted twice for meth possession, not exactly big time narco plays.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-narcos-profile-of-miguel-angel-felix-gallardo-mexico-s-e" target="_blank">The Real Narcos</a>: Profile of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Mexico’s “El Padrino” of drug lords</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9445489282,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9445489282?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="175" /></a>He (right) then moved back to Sinaloa, where he hooked up with drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva and got real close to the leadership in the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels" target="_blank">Sinaloa Cartel</a>. His sister had a relationship with Sinaloa boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, while his nephew is married to the sister of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.</p>
<p>Back in his home country, Cazares Gastellum set up a cocaine trafficking route into the United States that would place him among the elite of the Sinaloa Cartel and make him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Calexico border crossing</strong></span></p>
<p>Using the border crossing in Calexico, California, Cazares Gastellum organized countless drug shipments from Mexico into the United States using any manner of transportation available. For example, he would have his crew use regular busses that went back and forth across the border from Mexicali to Calexico carrying normal passengers. Hidden in the rims of the rear tires of the bus were over 70 kilos of cocaine.</p>
<p>The Sinaloa Cartel has various cells taking care of different pieces of the smuggling route. Once across the border, Carlos Cuevas, head of the local transport unit, welcomed the shipments at his warehouse. There, his crew unpacked the drugs and sent it on its way further into the United States, towards Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Loads of 300 kilos of coke were hidden in trucks as they headed to New York. There, the cocaine was replaced with cash, sometimes 3.5 million dollars, as the truck’s content headed back to Mexico. This way, Cazares Gastellum supplied the northeast of the United States.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Making over $200 million in 2 years</strong></span></p>
<p>Things went like this for years. Cocaine one way, cash another. All the while, Cazares Gastellum got richer and richer. The DEA estimates he made 200 to 250 million dollars in just two or three years. He used his money to build and expand his ranch outside Culiacán, which included a mansion, a church, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool with slide, horse stables, and a playground.</p>
<p>Then, in May of 2005, a traffic stop in El Centro meant the beginning of the end of Cazares Gastellum’s life if luxury.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/kingpin-style-sinaloa-cartel-bosses-walk-out-of-prison-where-they" target="_blank">Kingpin Style</a>: Sinaloa Cartel bosses walk out of prison where they awaited extradition to U.S.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Police found 25 kilos of drugs inside the car and a cell phone lying on the passenger seat. All the contacts in the phone are listed as nicknames. Authorities used the phone to trace other phones and create a picture of the smuggling network. It is the beginning of a large scale investigation in which hundreds of phones are tapped and which will result in over thousand arrests, including the man behind the network; Cazares Gastellum himself.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Wanted and on the run</strong></span></p>
<p>He was indicted by U.S. authorities in 2007, along with his son-in-law and 17 others. An attempt to arrest him failed. He was spotted in downtown Culiacan, surrounded by 20 to 30 bodyguards. Police decided not to arrest him so not to risk a bloodbath. They were simply outgunned by the narcos. With him being safely tucked away in Mexico, where he could buy protection, the U.S. added a $5 million-dollar reward for information leading to his arrest (photo below).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9445488860,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9445488860?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="700" /></a>He spent the next five years on the run. He underwent plastic surgery to make himself look younger and alter his appearance. He tried to lay low, mainly staying indoors. “I was a fugitive of justice at that moment,” Cazares Gastellum said. “I was closed in my home like someone in jail, afraid I’d be arrested. Until I got to the point where I just wanted to go into public without caring if I’d be arrested. I was so tired of being locked up in that house.”</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">Closure</span> </strong></p>
<p>After five years on the run, he was caught in 2012 at a highway checkpoint near Guadalajara. Four years later he was extradited. In the U.S., he pleaded guilty to drug charges and admitted his role in moving more than 450 kilograms of cocaine. He agreed to forfeit $10 million.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/elusive-colombian-drug-lord-memo-fantasma-arrested-mysterious-kin" target="_blank">Elusive Colombian drug lord “Memo Fantasma” arrested</a> – Mysterious kingpin started under Pablo Escobar</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>“I’m very sorry for my actions of my past life,” Cazares told the judge, according to the LA Times. “When I get out I’m going to live here and join a church and work for God. I want to live in a house surrounded by my children and grandchildren the rest of my life.”</p>
<p>He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The future</strong></span></p>
<p>Meanwhile, back home, it’s business as usual. Despite top leaders like Cazares Gastellum and, more importantly, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman locked up across the border, the flow of drugs and money continues and their families remain a powerful presence in the Mexico underworld.</p>
<p>Cazares Gastellum’s sister, Blanca Margarita Cazares Salazar, allegedly ran a network of money laundering businesses in Tijuana for the Sinaloa Cartel. Her nephew, Edgar, married Alejandrina Gisselle Guzmán, daughter of “El Chapo”, in January of 2020. The ceremony took place behind closed doors in the exclusive cathedral of Culiacán, in the heartland of the Sinaloa Cartel’s narco empire.</p>
<p>The wedding emphasized the elite position of the narco families in Mexico and showed the strong links between Cazares and Guzman. Despite the arrest of these leaders, others will carry on in their names. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/drug-cartels">Drug Cartels section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p> </p></div>