Flight attendant, bank employees indicted in Chicago case related to Mexico cartel

CHICAGO — An Indiana flight attendant and two bank employees have been indicted in a federal cartel case in Chicago.

They’re accused of assisting a Mexico-based cartel with money laundering tens of millions of dollars and moving thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

The case is connected to when federal agents seized a private jet at the Gary airport in 2021. In that investigation, Eighty kilograms (176 pounds) were found in a vehicle in the city’s River North neighborhood, while another 20 kilograms (44 pounds) were taken from a hotel room along Chicago’s Gold Coast.

The flight attendant, Glenis Zapata, 34, of Lafayette, Indiana, is accused of assisting the traffickers in the transportation of proceeds from the drug sales on commercial airline flights.

Two bank employees, Ilenis Zapata, 33, of Lafayette, and Georgina Banuelos, 39, of Lafayette, allegedly helped lauder the money by exchanging lower denominated bills for higher denominated bills.

They also allegedly knowingly and willfully failed to file currency reports for the transactions, as required under federal law, the indictment states.

The indictment renewed conspiracy and money laundering charges previously filed against 15 others, including the alleged leader of the drug trafficking organization — Oswaldo Espinosa, 41, of Mexico.

The organization’s alleged primary manager, Jorge Borbon-Ochoa, 46, of Mexico, and its alleged head of Chicago operations, Ricardo Tello, 37, of Texas, were also charged.

Espinosa’s organization allegedly transported cocaine in wholesale quantities from Mexico to various U.S. cities, including Chicago, from 2018 to 2023. The organization used warehouses, garages and stash houses to receive and store the cocaine and cash, according to the indictment.

Arraignments have not been scheduled yet.