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Tag: Sinaloa Cartel

  • Mexican army kills leader of powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel during operation to capture him

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    The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho, ” on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful cartel and giving the government its biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration its efforts.Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said. Two others were arrested and armored vehicles, rocket launchers and other arms were seized. Three members of the armed forces were wounded and receiving medical treatment.The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said on X that the operation was carried out by Mexican special forces “within the framework of bilateral cooperation, with U.S. authorities providing complementary intelligence.”Multiple Sacramento International Airport flights to Mexico have been canceled, according to FlightAware. Volaris Flight 1811, Volaris Flight 1813 and AeroMéxico 789 were all headed to Guadalajara. Roadblocks and burning vehiclesThe killing of the powerful drug lord set off several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations. Jalisco canceled school in the state for Monday.Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco, and people sprinting through the airport of the state’s capital in panic. On Sunday afternoon, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta “due to an ongoing security situation” and advised customers not to go to their airport.In Guadalajara, the state capital, burning vehicles blocked roads. Mexico’s second-largest city is scheduled to host matches during this summer’s soccer World Cup.The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon states to remain in safe places due to the ongoing security operations. Canada’s embassy in Mexico warned its citizens in Puerto Vallarta to shelter in place and generally to keep a low profile in Jalisco.Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus told residents to stay at home and suspended public transportation.US had offered up to $15 million for his captureThe U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, like her predecessor, has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.On Sunday, Sheinbaum applauded Mexican security forces and called for calm in a post on X.A Jalisco state official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly said that a member of the National Guard died in Tapalpa during the operation, a jail guard was killed at a lockup in Puerto Vallarta when prisoners rioted, and an agent from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office was killed in Guadalajara. Details were not immediately available.Known as an aggressive cartelThe Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now federal security secretary.The DEA considers the cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines. Sinaloa, however, has been weakened by infighting after the loss of its leaders Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, both in U.S. custody.Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was originally from Aguililla in the neighboring state of Michoacan. He had been significantly involved in drug trafficking activities since the 1990s. When he was younger, he migrated to the U.S. where he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1994 and served nearly three years in prison.Following his release from custody, Oseguera Cervantes returned to Mexico and reengaged in drug trafficking activity with drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel.” After Villarreal’s death, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel around 2007.Initially, they worked for the Sinaloa Cartel, but eventually split and for years the two cartels have battled for territory across Mexico.Indicted several times in the United StatesSince 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.The most recent superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, charges Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States and use of firearms during and in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes is also charged under the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for directing a continuing criminal enterprise.Last year, people searching for missing relatives founds piles of shoes and other clothing, as well as bone fragments at what authorities later said was a Jalisco cartel recruitment and training site.___Associated Press writer María Verza contributed to this report.

    The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho, ” on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful cartel and giving the government its biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration its efforts.

    Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.

    During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said. Two others were arrested and armored vehicles, rocket launchers and other arms were seized. Three members of the armed forces were wounded and receiving medical treatment.

    The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said on X that the operation was carried out by Mexican special forces “within the framework of bilateral cooperation, with U.S. authorities providing complementary intelligence.”

    Multiple Sacramento International Airport flights to Mexico have been canceled, according to FlightAware. Volaris Flight 1811, Volaris Flight 1813 and AeroMéxico 789 were all headed to Guadalajara.

    Roadblocks and burning vehicles

    The killing of the powerful drug lord set off several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations. Jalisco canceled school in the state for Monday.

    Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco, and people sprinting through the airport of the state’s capital in panic. On Sunday afternoon, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta “due to an ongoing security situation” and advised customers not to go to their airport.

    In Guadalajara, the state capital, burning vehicles blocked roads. Mexico’s second-largest city is scheduled to host matches during this summer’s soccer World Cup.

    The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon states to remain in safe places due to the ongoing security operations. Canada’s embassy in Mexico warned its citizens in Puerto Vallarta to shelter in place and generally to keep a low profile in Jalisco.

    Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus told residents to stay at home and suspended public transportation.

    US had offered up to $15 million for his capture

    The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.

    In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

    Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, like her predecessor, has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.

    On Sunday, Sheinbaum applauded Mexican security forces and called for calm in a post on X.

    A Jalisco state official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly said that a member of the National Guard died in Tapalpa during the operation, a jail guard was killed at a lockup in Puerto Vallarta when prisoners rioted, and an agent from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office was killed in Guadalajara. Details were not immediately available.

    Known as an aggressive cartel

    The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now federal security secretary.

    The DEA considers the cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines. Sinaloa, however, has been weakened by infighting after the loss of its leaders Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, both in U.S. custody.

    Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was originally from Aguililla in the neighboring state of Michoacan. He had been significantly involved in drug trafficking activities since the 1990s. When he was younger, he migrated to the U.S. where he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1994 and served nearly three years in prison.

    Following his release from custody, Oseguera Cervantes returned to Mexico and reengaged in drug trafficking activity with drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel.” After Villarreal’s death, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85,” created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel around 2007.

    Initially, they worked for the Sinaloa Cartel, but eventually split and for years the two cartels have battled for territory across Mexico.

    Indicted several times in the United States

    Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

    The most recent superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, charges Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States and use of firearms during and in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes is also charged under the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for directing a continuing criminal enterprise.

    Last year, people searching for missing relatives founds piles of shoes and other clothing, as well as bone fragments at what authorities later said was a Jalisco cartel recruitment and training site.

    ___

    Associated Press writer María Verza contributed to this report.

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  • US State Department urges US citizens to stay safe in Jalisco after El Mencho killing

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    The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon states to remain in safe places due to ongoing security operations after the Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” was killed on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful cartel and giving the government its biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration its efforts.Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to capture him on Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, and he died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said. Two others were arrested and armored vehicles, rocket launchers and other arms were seized. Three members of the armed forces were wounded and receiving medical treatment.Roadblocks and burning vehiclesThe killing of the powerful drug lord set off several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations. Jalisco canceled school in the state for Monday.Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco, and people sprinting through the airport of the state’s capital in panic. On Sunday afternoon, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta “due to an ongoing security situation” and advised customers not to go to their airport.In Guadalajara, the state capital, burning vehicles blocked roads. Mexico’s second-largest city is scheduled to host matches during this summer’s soccer World Cup.Canada’s embassy in Mexico warned its citizens in Puerto Vallarta to shelter in place and generally to keep a low profile in Jalisco.Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus told residents to stay at home and suspended public transportation.US had offered up to $15 million for his captureThe U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is one of the most powerful and fastest-growing criminal organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, like her predecessor, has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.Known as aggressive cartelThe Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now federal security secretary.The DEA considers the cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines. Sinaloa, however, has been weakened by infighting after the loss of its leaders Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, both in U.S. custody.Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was originally from Aguililla in the neighboring state of Michoacan. He had been significantly involved in drug trafficking activities since the 1990s. When he was younger, he migrated to the U.S., where he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1994 and served nearly three years in prison.Following his release from custody, Oseguera Cervantes returned to Mexico and reengaged in drug trafficking activity with drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel.” After Villarreal’s death, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85”, created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel around 2007.Initially, they worked for the Sinaloa Cartel, but eventually split, and for years, the two cartels have battled for territory across Mexico.Indicted several times in the United StatesSince 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.The most recent superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, charges Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States and use of firearms during and in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes is also charged under the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for directing a continuing criminal enterprise.Last year, people searching for missing relatives found piles of shoes and other clothing, as well as bone fragments at what authorities later said was a Jalisco cartel recruitment and training site.__AP writer María Verza contributed to this report.

    The U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens in Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon states to remain in safe places due to ongoing security operations after the Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

    Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” was killed on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful cartel and giving the government its biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration its efforts.

    Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to capture him on Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, and he died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.

    During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said. Two others were arrested and armored vehicles, rocket launchers and other arms were seized. Three members of the armed forces were wounded and receiving medical treatment.

    Roadblocks and burning vehicles

    The killing of the powerful drug lord set off several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations. Jalisco canceled school in the state for Monday.

    Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing over the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco, and people sprinting through the airport of the state’s capital in panic. On Sunday afternoon, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to Puerto Vallarta “due to an ongoing security situation” and advised customers not to go to their airport.

    In Guadalajara, the state capital, burning vehicles blocked roads. Mexico’s second-largest city is scheduled to host matches during this summer’s soccer World Cup.

    Canada’s embassy in Mexico warned its citizens in Puerto Vallarta to shelter in place and generally to keep a low profile in Jalisco.

    Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus told residents to stay at home and suspended public transportation.

    US had offered up to $15 million for his capture

    The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, is one of the most powerful and fastest-growing criminal organizations in Mexico and was born in 2009.

    In February, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

    Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, like her predecessor, has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.

    Known as aggressive cartel

    The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now federal security secretary.

    The DEA considers the cartel to be as powerful as the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s most infamous criminal groups, with a presence in all 50 U.S. states. It is one of the main suppliers of cocaine to the U.S. market and, like the Sinaloa cartel, earns billions from the production of fentanyl and methamphetamines. Sinaloa, however, has been weakened by infighting after the loss of its leaders Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, both in U.S. custody.

    Oseguera Cervantes, 59, was originally from Aguililla in the neighboring state of Michoacan. He had been significantly involved in drug trafficking activities since the 1990s. When he was younger, he migrated to the U.S., where he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 1994 and served nearly three years in prison.

    Following his release from custody, Oseguera Cervantes returned to Mexico and reengaged in drug trafficking activity with drug lord Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, alias “Nacho Coronel.” After Villarreal’s death, Oseguera Cervantes and Erik Valencia Salazar, alias “El 85”, created the Jalisco New Generation Cartel around 2007.

    Initially, they worked for the Sinaloa Cartel, but eventually split, and for years, the two cartels have battled for territory across Mexico.

    Indicted several times in the United States

    Since 2017, Oseguera Cervantes has been indicted several times in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

    The most recent superseding indictment, filed on April 5, 2022, charges Oseguera Cervantes with conspiracy and distribution of controlled substances (methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl) for the purpose of illegal importation into the United States and use of firearms during and in connection with drug trafficking offenses. Oseguera Cervantes is also charged under the Drug Kingpin Enforcement Act for directing a continuing criminal enterprise.

    Last year, people searching for missing relatives found piles of shoes and other clothing, as well as bone fragments at what authorities later said was a Jalisco cartel recruitment and training site.

    __

    AP writer María Verza contributed to this report.

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  • U.S. Sanctions Expose the Women Aiding Fugitive Ryan Wedding

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    Meet the women who were sanctioned by the U.S. Government this week for their roles in propping up the sprawling narco operation helped by former Olympic turned drug lord Ryan Wedding, now a fugitive with a $15 million bounty on his head

    Ryan Wedding, federal prosecutors say, sits at the helm of a sprawling narco empire, one protected by the bloodthirsty Sinaloa cartel, an allegedly dirty Canadian lawyer, a cadre of international sicarios, and even an Italian mercenary.

    But little has been known – until now – about the women in his life who U.S. federal officials say prop up his business, laundering money and assisting him in “acts of violence,” a Mexican wife, a Colombian girlfriend, and a madam who runs an upscale escort business, and one of those escorts, a Colombian national living in Orlando. This week, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control put the women on a sanctions list, which blocks any assets they have in the United States and prohibits Americans from engaging in any business transactions with them.

    His wife, Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno, a 34-year-old raven-haired beauty from Nuevo León, Mexico, has been part of Wedding’s life since at least 2011, when U.S. officials say she married him in a federal prison where he was serving a short three year sentence after pleading guilty in 2008 to a botched drug deal in San Diego that involved a former Russian KGB agent who was actually working for the FBI. This week, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned her, writing: “Castillo launders drug proceeds for Wedding and has helped him conduct acts of violence.” A day later, the Treasury Department removed her from the list on Thursday, saying that there was no evidence she was involved with his business.

    But Wedding’s reputed 23-year-old Colombian girlfriend, Daniela Alejandra Acuña Macías, remains on the sanctions list, accused by U.S. officials of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from the former Olympian, knowing that the money came from his drug trafficking operation. She has not been charged criminally by U.S. officials and is believed to be somewhere in Mexico.

    An accused madam who prosecutors say introduced Wedding to that girlfriend, Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, 47, a Colombian national from Bogotá, behind what authorities call a high-end escort service in Mexico City, was arrested this week as part of the investigation into Ryan Wedding’s criminal network. She faces multiple federal charges, including conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise, witness tampering, and money laundering.

    Another Colombian national prosecutors described as a “commercial sex worker” was charged with helping Wedding and his top lieutenant, Andrew Clark, track down a cooperating informant so he could be executed. Yulieth Katherine Tejada, 36, was arrested this week at her home in Orlando and is now charged with conspiracy counts related to murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise, witness tampering, and money laundering.

    Members of what U.S. officials call Ryan Wedding’s sprawling narco empire were sanctioned this week by the Treasury Department
    Credit: Department of Treasury

    While on the run as a fugitive with a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, Wedding – who is believed to have gotten plastic surgery while in hiding – ordered the assassination of the cooperating witness, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, 39, who sources say had agreed to work with the FBI in building the case against the ex-Olympian and his consiglieri, Canadian Andrew Clark, 39.

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    Prosecutors say that Wedding placed a “multimillion-dollar bounty” on the cooperating witness not long after he and more than a dozen others were indicted by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles in a case dubbed Operation Giant Slalom. Wedding, prosecutors say, had a “citizen journalist” who ran an online website called “Dirty News” that ran the informant’s photo, and then used the madam and the escort as lures to help track Acebo-Garcia down.

    The informant was shot dead by a group of unknown assassins in a crowded restaurant inside a Medellin mall on Jan. 31, 2025.

    Among the other criminals now accused of helping Wedding execute the victim and to continue to collect profits from his still operational trafficking network, while sitting atop the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, include a coterie of colorful international figures. One is an “Indian-Canadian” criminal defense attorney, Deepak Paradkar, 62, who prosecutors call a key advisor to Wedding and a top lieutenant in the organization, his consiglieri, Canadian Andrew Clark, 39.

    Another is former Italian special forces member, Gianluca Tiepolo, who the Treasury Department sanctioned for running a training camp, Windrose Tactical, that allegedly trained Wedding-connected hitmen, along with legitimate law enforcement members. Authorities call him a prolific money launderer who allegedly managed Wedding’s luxury assets, including a fleet of high-end vehicles that included a $13 million Mercedes CLK-GTR seized by the FBI.

    Prosecutors also arrested Rolon Sokolovski, 37, a professional poker player and diamond dealer from Toronto who is now accused of helping Wedding launder money through a worldwide cryptocurrency network.

    The Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, John K. Hurley, said that his department issued the sanctions as a way of trying to cut Wedding’s criminal partners off from the U.S. financial system in hopes it would “help dismantle the network” the fugitive relies on while he remains on the lam. “Our goal is simple,” Hurley said in a statement. “Make it difficult for criminals like this to profit from poisoning our communities.” 

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    Michele McPhee

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  • Ryan “El Jefe” Wedding: Fugitive Drug Lord Accused in Witness Hit

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    Ryan “El Jefe” Wedding, the former Olympic snowboarder who is now an internationally hunted narco terrorist with a $15 million bounty on his head, was hit with new charges that allege that he conspired with ten others, among them a Canadian defense attorney, an Orlando hooker, and an Israeli professional poker player, to assassinate a witness set to testify against him.

    The Department of Justice announced the new charges against Wedding and members of his sprawling narcotics enterprise on Wednesday during a press conference held in Washington, D.C.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi said total of eleven people are now orchestrated the cold-blooded assassination of an FBI informant who was cooperating with the Los Angeles-based prosecution of Wedding’s empire.

    While on the run as a fugitive with a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, Wedding – who is believed to have gotten plastic surgery while in hiding – ordered the assassination of the cooperating witness, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, 39, who sources say had agreed to work with the FBI in building the case against the ex-Olympian and his consiglieri, Canadian Andrew Clark, 39.

    The new indictment outlines the complex steps that were taken to pull off the brazen Jan. 31, 2025, execution of the federal witness at a crowded restaurant inside a Medellin shopping mall – an idea that was initially hatched, prosecutors say, by an “Indian-Canadian” criminal defense attorney, Deepak Paradkar, 62, who was a key advisor to the Wedding organization.

    Paradkhar, prosecutors say, advised Wedding and Clark, who was captured in a dramatic takedown in October 2024, the same month Los Angeles federal prosecutors announced charges against the duo in a case dubbed Operation Giant Slalom, that without the testimony the FBI had from the witness, they could not be extradited from Mexico.

    First, prosecutors say, they had to find the witness. So, the indictment states, Wedding paid a “citizen journalist” behind the website “Dirty News,” a now-defunct Colombian blog that covered the underworld, to run photos of Acebedo-Garcia and his wife, along with offers of a reward to anyone who would take him out. There was several takers, among them a man prosecutors call a sicario, identied as 40-year-old reputed Montreal hitman known in the streets as 2-Pac, but whose real name is Atna Ohna.

    Onha, prosecutors say, was allegedly $150,000 and given 30 grams of coke to help organize the hit with a variety of bad guys on his payroll. The woman prosecutors describe as a “commercial sex worker,” Katherine Tejada, a Colombian woman living as a U.S. green card holder in Orlando, also provided tips about her ex-client to Wedding so that his “Enterprise could locate and kill” him, according to the indictment.

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    On the day of the hit, a trio of motorcyclists followed Acebedo-Garcia to the eatery in a coordinated reconnaissance mission. The suspected hitmen then followed him inside, where a single unknown gunman “shot him approximately five times in the head while he was eating in the restaurant.” Another man took a proof of death photo of the victim before they all fled the murder scene on the motorcycles. Those suspects remain at large and are being sought by the FBI.

    The killing of a key FBI witness in a case where the number one target remains at large pulled in the highest levels of U.S. law enforcement, including Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. Among those present for the D.C. confab were U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District Bill Essayli and FBI Special Agent in Charge for the L.A. Field Office Akil Davis.

    “Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world and works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel. We will not rest until his name is taken off the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List, and his narco-trafficking organization lies dismantled,” Attorney General Bondi said.

    The highest levels of U.S. law enforcement gathered in Washington D.C. to announce new charges against Ryan Wedding, including FB SAC for LA Akil Davis flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi
    Credit: FBI

    “Ryan Wedding and his associates allegedly imported tons of cocaine each year from Colombia through Mexico and onto the streets of U.S. communities,” added Patel. “His criminal activities and violent actions will not be tolerated, and this is a clear signal that the FBI will use our resources and expertise to find Ryan Wedding and bring him and his associates to justice.”

    Despite the rub-out, Clark was in fact extradited to the U.S. in early March, as reported by Los Angeles, and remains held without bail at the federal lockup in DTLA. The new indictment also revealed that Wedding – among the FBI’s top most wanted fugitives – continues to profit from his trafficking network’s drug sales. In August, Los Angeles reported the FBI believes Wedding may have altered his looks with plastic surgery while living under the protective arm of the Sinaloa cartel.

    The FBI is focusing its worldwide manhunt for Ryan Wedding - the subject of a $10 million State Department reward - in Mexico and released new Most Wanted posters in Spanish last week The FBI is focusing its worldwide manhunt for Ryan Wedding - the subject of a $10 million State Department reward - in Mexico and released new Most Wanted posters in Spanish last week 
    The FBI is focusing its worldwide manhunt for Ryan Wedding – the subject of a $15 million State Department reward – in Mexico and released new Most Wanted posters in Spanish earlier this year
    Credit: FBI

    Wedding and Clark, prosecutors say, sit at the helm of a transnational murderous drug empire that run a still functioning billion-dollar underworld network, one that stores its drugs at secret stash houses in the Los Angeles area. The duo was initially charged in October 2024 with a plethora of racketeering crimes – including the murders of an elderly Indian couple killed in a case of mistaken identity – a case that Los Angeles covered in an in-depth story that ran spring that explored Wedding’s early career as a budding drug lord.

    Their codefendants in the 2024 indictment include a motley coterie of fellow accused crooks. Among them: Nahim Jorge Bonilla, a Latin music executive whose preferred nickname was “The One” and whom investigators believe was negotiating drug deals as the owner of the Miami Beach hot spot Mandrake. There was an Indian trucking magnate, a Toronto hitman, Russian mobsters. In the most recent indictment, prosecutors have added an Israeli professional poker player, the sex worker, the attorney, the citizen journalist, and the alleged sicarios alongside the Wedding organization members indicted in Operation Giant Slalom.

    A grid of 16 mugshots of individuals arrested as part of Operation Giant Slalom, featuring A grid of 16 mugshots of individuals arrested as part of Operation Giant Slalom, featuring
    Authorities dismantle the $1 billion cocaine empire led by former Olympian Ryan Wedding
    Credit: Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice

    Wedding, who had represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Park City, pleaded guilty just eight years after he competed in that exact race – the giant slalom – in a San Diego federal courtroom. He had been arrested in the process of pulling off drug deal that involved another FBI informant, an ex-KGB agent, when he was busted by investigators with the Drug Enforcement Agency. He then served time with cellmates that included close associates of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, the notorious kingpin who commanded the bloodthirsty Sinaloa cartel for decades, according to prison records.

    Andrew ClarkAndrew Clark
    Andrew Clark, the consiglieri for a sprawling narco outfit, was taken into custody in Mexico in October 2024
    Credit: Law Enforcement Source/Los Angeles file photo

    Prosecutors now say that when Wedding was released from prison roughly a year after that guilty plea in December 2011, the athlete “founded the Wedding Criminal Enterprise,” which quickly became “the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada.” The enterprise operated in “Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and the United States, among other countries,” prosecutors say, working alongside paramilitary groups and cartels “collaboratively.”

    Prosecutors say he moved 60 tons of cocaine a year from the humid climes of South and Central America to the iciest reaches of Canada, and was the “principal administrator, organizer and leader of the criminal enterprise.” And the latest indictment suggests he still is capitalizing on that leadership role.

    Los Angeles was Wedding’s hub, the proverbial ground zero for his operation’s sophisticated “transportation network” that stockpiled drugs in warehouses across the city before they were smuggled into Canada by long-haul truckers. 

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    Michele McPhee

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  • No evidence of politicians linked to Sinaloa cartel, Sheinbaum says

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    MEXICO CITY — Mexican investigators have found no evidence that sitting Mexican politicians or military commanders are collaborating with the Sinaloa cartel, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday.

    “We don’t have at this time any proof against any public servant, or member of the Army [or] Navy,” Sheinbaum responded Wednesday when asked about allegations from Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel.

    But she vowed that Mexico would prosecute any officials found to be on cartel payrolls. “We won’t cover up for anyone,” the president said at her regular morning news conference.

    Upon entering a guilty plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Zambada cited a decades-long culture of official graft as essential to the success of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world’s richest crime syndicates.

    “The organization I led promoted corruption in my home country by paying police, military commanders and politicians,” Zambada, 75, declared, in comments widely publicized in Mexico. “It goes back to the very beginning when I was a young man starting out, and it continued for all these years.”

    Zambada’s comments — citing cartel payoffs across the rule of all major Mexican political parties — added yet another layer of corroboration to what has long been public knowledge: Organized crime has thrived thanks to collaboration with Mexican lawmakers, police officers and soldiers.

    In comments Monday, U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi said that Zambada “operated with impunity at the highest level of the Mexican drug trafficking world, by paying bribes to government officials, by bribing law enforcement officers.”

    Zambada’s charges come at an extremely sensitive moment, as the Trump administration weighs the possibility of unilateral U.S. military strikes against cartel targets. Sheinbaum has said repeatedly that her government views any unilateral U.S. action on Mexican territory as an egregious violation of sovereignty.

    Zambada’s comments in court have reverberated in Mexico, where Sheinbaum marks her first year in office on Oct. 1.

    Commentators have speculated about whether Zambada’s case and those of other alleged high-level traffickers in U.S. custody — including two sons of the imprisoned Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada’s former partner in founding the Sinaloa gang — may produce fresh corruption allegations against “narco-politicians,” including members of Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena political bloc.

    Critics here have assailed Sheinbaum’s government for not moving to prosecute Morena bigwigs with purported ties to organized crime.

    “Mexico was once again shown to be a country without rule of law,” wrote columnist Pascal Beltrán del Río in the Mexican daily Excélsior, following the announcement of Zambada’s plea. “If Mexico does nothing … it runs the risk that the United States — out of its own interests — will begin to take in hand the arsenal of information that El Mayo and the rest of the captive capos are surely providing.”

    Sheinbaum regularly touts what she calls an ongoing cartel crackdown. She has dispatched thousands of troops to Mexico’s northern border with the United States, jailed hundreds of alleged trafficking operatives and turned over dozens of suspects over to U.S. authorities. Her political rivals say it’s mostly show to appease the Trump administration.

    While no current lawmakers or military brass had been implicated in corruption, some municipal and state police had been tied to cartel activity, Omar García Harfuch, Sheinbaum’s security chief, told reporters.

    “If an investigation shows any politician or public functionary linked to any criminal group, the complaint would be presented and an investigation started,” said García Harfuch, whose official title is secretary of security and civilian protection. “But we don’t have any proof at this time.”

    Zambada was arrested by U.S. authorities last year during the final year of the administration of ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum’s predecessor and founder of the ruling Morena political party.

    Jeffrey Lichtman, the attorney representing El Chapo’s sons in their U.S. cases, has explicitly called out Sheinbaum in recent weeks, alleging that she has been “acting as … the public relations arm of the Zambada drug trafficking organization.” Sheinbaum subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit against Lichtman in a Mexican court. Lichtman fired back in a post on Instagram, calling the president’s lawsuit “a cheap effort to score political points.”

    Sheinbaum has insisted that official corruption has largely ended since López Obrador took office in 2018 — an assertion dismissed as absurd by opposition lawmakers. López Obrador repeatedly rejected allegations that drug-trafficking money helped fund several of his political campaigns, but he charged that graft was rampant in past administrations.

    The most notorious case was that of Genaro García Luna, a former federal security chief who is serving a 38-year prison term in the United States after his conviction for receiving millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa cartel. García Luna served under former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, political arch-enemy of López Obrador.

    As part of his plea agreement, U.S. authorities said, Zambada also agreed to hand over $15 billion in alleged drug-trade proceeds generated since the 1980s. While experts said it’s unlikely that the massive sum will ever be collected, Sheinbaum said Wednesday that Mexico would demand a part of any such haul “for the people of Mexico.”

    Many questions still remain about the mysterious operation that culminated in the arrest of Zambada in July 2024.

    Sheinbaum has complained that Washington has yet to provide any clarification about the sequence of events that led to Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López — a son of El Chapo Guzmán — being flown from Mexico to the United States. The two were arrested outside El Paso after arriving on a private plane that reportedly took off from outside Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.

    Zambada has said that he was set up and kidnapped by Guzmán López, a former head of the Sinaloa cartel faction known as Los Chapitos.

    Ken Salazar, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, told reporters last year that Zambada was brought to the United States against his will — but that no U.S. personnel, resources or aircraft were involved. U.S. authorities were “surprised” when Zambada and Guzmán turned up on the U.S. side of the border, Salazar told reporters.

    But Mexican officials are skeptical. They suspect that Washington orchestrated the entire operation, likely enlisting the support of El Chapo’s son to abduct Zambada and transport him to U.S. territory.

    The apparent kidnapping of Zambada triggered a bloody civil war within the Sinaloa cartel — pitting Zambada loyalists against supporters of Los Chapitos — that has left hundreds dead. The intra-cartel struggle continues to claim casualties in Sinaloa state.

    Staff writer Keegan Hamilton in Brooklyn and special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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    Patrick J. McDonnell

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  • Sinaloa Cartel-Linked Drug Trafficking Ring Dismantled In Western Washington – KXL

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    SEATLLE, Wash. – Federal, state, and local authorities say they have disrupted a major drug trafficking network connected to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, seizing massive quantities of narcotics and arresting 13 people across western Washington.

    Over the last three weeks, investigators uncovered a sprawling criminal enterprise that trafficked fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin from Mexico into the Pacific Northwest—often using semi-trucks to transport the drugs through California.

    Officials say the operation was headed by brothers Rosario Abel “Joaquin” Camargo Banuelos, 31, and Francisco “Fernando” Camargo Banuelos, 24, who are based in Sinaloa, Mexico. They are among 19 people charged in a sweeping federal indictment.

    According to prosecutors, drug deals took place in cities across the region—from Whidbey Island and Arlington to Tacoma and Lacey. One of the key suspects, truck driver Isabel Villarreal Zapien, 44, a Mexican national, allegedly transported the drugs in large shipments and was arrested earlier this year.

    Authorities say they seized narcotics, cash and weapons over the course of the investigation, including during a coordinated takedown on August 4. That operation yielded:

    • 9 kilograms of methamphetamine

    • Over 5 kilograms of fentanyl

    • Nearly 4 kilograms of cocaine

    • More than a kilogram of heroin

    • 10 firearms (seven pistols, three rifles)

    • $342,000 in suspected drug proceeds

    Additional seizures throughout the investigation included:

    Thirteen people are currently in custody, while six others remain at large. Among those arrested are couriers, distributors, and redistributors operating in cities like Everett, Shoreline, and Greenbank on Whidbey Island. Some defendants were also charged with firearms violations, including possession by previously deported individuals.

    Four additional suspects arrested in early August are facing related charges, including possession of large quantities of fentanyl and meth with intent to distribute. One man, John Hardman of Everett, was found with a brick of fentanyl powder stamped with a swastika and $50,000 in cash.

    Charges in the indictment carry significant prison terms, including mandatory minimums of 10 years for some defendants based on the volume of drugs involved. All individuals charged are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

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    Grant McHill

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  • Long-elusive Mexican drug lord Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada pleads guilty in US

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    Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, saying he was sorry for helping to flood the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances and for fueling deadly violence in Mexico.“I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States, of Mexico, and elsewhere,” he said through a Spanish-language interpreter. “I take responsibility for my role in all of it and I apologize to everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions.”Under the leadership of Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world, prosecutors say.“Culpable,” Zambada said, using the Spanish word for “guilty,” as he entered his plea.He acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa operation, including underlings who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw the importation of cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane and the smuggling of the drug across the U.S.-Mexico border. He acknowledged that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders “so they could operate freely,” going all the way back to when the cartel was just starting out.Zambada was arrested in Texas last year. He entered his plea two weeks after prosecutors said they wouldn’t seek the death penalty against him, a development that his attorney has called an important step in resolving the case.The lawyer, Frank Perez, said outside court Monday that “the outcome was good,” adding that Zambada “wanted to accept responsibility, and he did.”Zambada, 77, is due to be sentenced Jan. 13 to life in prison.He traced his involvement in the illegal drug business to his teenage years, when — after leaving school with a sixth-grade education — he planted marijuana for the first time in 1969. He said he went on to sell heroin and other drugs, but especially cocaine. From 1980 until last year, he and his cartel were responsible for transporting at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine, “most of which went to the United States,” he said.Prosecutors said in his indictment that he and the cartel also trafficked in fentanyl and methamphetamine.Considered a good negotiator, Zambada was seen as the cartel’s strategist and dealmaker who was more involved in its day-to-day doings than the more flamboyant Guzmán. Nevertheless, prosecutors have said Zambada also was enmeshed in the group’s violence, at one point ordering the murder of his own nephew.Zambada pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise between 1989 and 2024 and racketeering conspiracy, which encompasses involvement in a number of crimes from 2000 to 2012.Prosecutors say he presided over a violent, highly militarized cartel with a private security force armed with powerful weapons and a cadre of “sicarios,” or hitmen, that carried out assassinations, kidnappings and torture. He acknowledged in his plea that he “directed people under my control to kill others” to serve the cartel’s interests.“Many innocent people were also killed,” he said in an eight-minute address to the court Monday.Zambada appeared momentarily unsteady as he arrived in a Brooklyn federal courtroom; a marshal grabbed his arm to direct him to his seat among his attorneys at the defense table.As Judge Brian M. Cogan described the charges in Zambada’s plea agreement, the bearded ex-Sinaloa boss sat attentively, at times brushing his right hand through his white hair.Guzmán was sentenced to life behind bars following his conviction in the same federal court in Brooklyn in 2019.The Sinaloa cartel is Mexico’s oldest criminal group, with various incarnations dating to the 1970s. It is a drug trafficking power player: A former Mexican cabinet member was convicted of taking bribes to help the cartel.U.S. law enforcement sought Zambada for more than two decades, but he was never arrested in any country until he arrived in Texas last year on a private plane with one of Guzmán’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. Guzmán López has pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in Chicago; his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, pleaded guilty last month.Zambada has said he was kidnapped in Mexico and taken against his will to the U.S.Zambada’s arrest touched off deadly fighting in Mexico between rival Sinaloa cartel factions, apparently pitting his loyalists against backers of Guzmán’s sons, dubbed the Chapitos — a term that translates to “little Chapos.”Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed.

    Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, saying he was sorry for helping to flood the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit substances and for fueling deadly violence in Mexico.

    “I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people of the United States, of Mexico, and elsewhere,” he said through a Spanish-language interpreter. “I take responsibility for my role in all of it and I apologize to everyone who has suffered or been affected by my actions.”

    Under the leadership of Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world, prosecutors say.

    “Culpable,” Zambada said, using the Spanish word for “guilty,” as he entered his plea.

    He acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa operation, including underlings who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw the importation of cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane and the smuggling of the drug across the U.S.-Mexico border. He acknowledged that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders “so they could operate freely,” going all the way back to when the cartel was just starting out.

    Zambada was arrested in Texas last year. He entered his plea two weeks after prosecutors said they wouldn’t seek the death penalty against him, a development that his attorney has called an important step in resolving the case.

    The lawyer, Frank Perez, said outside court Monday that “the outcome was good,” adding that Zambada “wanted to accept responsibility, and he did.”

    Zambada, 77, is due to be sentenced Jan. 13 to life in prison.

    He traced his involvement in the illegal drug business to his teenage years, when — after leaving school with a sixth-grade education — he planted marijuana for the first time in 1969. He said he went on to sell heroin and other drugs, but especially cocaine. From 1980 until last year, he and his cartel were responsible for transporting at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine, “most of which went to the United States,” he said.

    Prosecutors said in his indictment that he and the cartel also trafficked in fentanyl and methamphetamine.

    Considered a good negotiator, Zambada was seen as the cartel’s strategist and dealmaker who was more involved in its day-to-day doings than the more flamboyant Guzmán. Nevertheless, prosecutors have said Zambada also was enmeshed in the group’s violence, at one point ordering the murder of his own nephew.

    Zambada pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise between 1989 and 2024 and racketeering conspiracy, which encompasses involvement in a number of crimes from 2000 to 2012.

    Prosecutors say he presided over a violent, highly militarized cartel with a private security force armed with powerful weapons and a cadre of “sicarios,” or hitmen, that carried out assassinations, kidnappings and torture. He acknowledged in his plea that he “directed people under my control to kill others” to serve the cartel’s interests.

    “Many innocent people were also killed,” he said in an eight-minute address to the court Monday.

    Zambada appeared momentarily unsteady as he arrived in a Brooklyn federal courtroom; a marshal grabbed his arm to direct him to his seat among his attorneys at the defense table.

    As Judge Brian M. Cogan described the charges in Zambada’s plea agreement, the bearded ex-Sinaloa boss sat attentively, at times brushing his right hand through his white hair.

    Guzmán was sentenced to life behind bars following his conviction in the same federal court in Brooklyn in 2019.

    The Sinaloa cartel is Mexico’s oldest criminal group, with various incarnations dating to the 1970s. It is a drug trafficking power player: A former Mexican cabinet member was convicted of taking bribes to help the cartel.

    U.S. law enforcement sought Zambada for more than two decades, but he was never arrested in any country until he arrived in Texas last year on a private plane with one of Guzmán’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. Guzmán López has pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in Chicago; his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, pleaded guilty last month.

    Zambada has said he was kidnapped in Mexico and taken against his will to the U.S.

    Zambada’s arrest touched off deadly fighting in Mexico between rival Sinaloa cartel factions, apparently pitting his loyalists against backers of Guzmán’s sons, dubbed the Chapitos — a term that translates to “little Chapos.”

    Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed.

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  • Long-elusive Mexican drug lord Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada pleads guilty in US

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    NEW YORK — Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada pleaded guilty Monday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, saying he was sorry for helping to flood the U.S. with cocaine and other illicit substances.

    “I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people in the United States and Mexico,” he said through a Spanish-language interpreter. “I apologize for all of it, and I take responsibility for my actions.”

    Under the leadership of Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, prosecutors say the Sinaloa cartel evolved from a regional player into the largest drug trafficking organization in the world.

    In pleading guilty, Zambada acknowledged the extent of the Sinaloa operation, including underlings who built relationships with cocaine producers in Colombia, oversaw the importation of cocaine to Mexico by boat and plane and the smuggling of the drug across the U.S.-Mexico border. He acknowledged that people working for him paid bribes to Mexican police and military commanders “so they could operate freely,” going all the way back to when the cartel was just starting out.

    Zambada entered his plea in a Brooklyn federal court, two weeks after prosecutors said they wouldn’t seek the death penalty against him. Instead, he’s expecting to be sentenced Jan. 13 to life in prison.

    The 77-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of running a continuing criminal enterprise. He was arrested in Texas last year.

    Zambada had pleaded not guilty last year to a range of drug trafficking and related charges, including gun and money laundering offenses.

    Prosecutors say Zambada presided over a violent, highly militarized cartel with a private security force armed with powerful weapons and a cadre of “sicarios,” or hitmen, that carried out assassinations, kidnappings and torture.

    Lawyers for Zambada didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.

    Guzmán was sentenced to life behind bars following his conviction in the same federal court in Brooklyn in 2019. His two sons, who ran a cartel faction, also face federal charges.

    The Sinaloa cartel is Mexico’s oldest criminal group, with various incarnations dating to the 1970s. It is a drug trafficking power player: A former Mexican cabinet member was convicted of taking bribes to help the cartel.

    Considered a good negotiator, Zambada was seen as the cartel’s strategist and dealmaker, thought to be more involved in its day-to-day doings than the more flamboyant Guzmán. Nevertheless, prosecutors have said Zambada also was enmeshed in the group’s violence, at one point ordering the murder of his own nephew.

    U.S. law enforcement sought Zambada for more than two decades, but he was never arrested in any country until he was taken into custody in Texas last year. He had arrived in a private plane with one of Guzmán’s sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. Guzmán López has pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in Chicago; his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, pleaded guilty last month.

    Zambada has said he was kidnapped in Mexico and taken against his will to the U.S. He had often been at odds with Guzmán’s sons, dubbed the Chapitos, a term that translates to “little Chapos.”

    Zambada’s arrest touched off deadly fighting in Mexico between rival Sinaloa cartel factions, apparently pitting his loyalists against backers of Guzmán’s sons.

    Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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    AP

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  • Report: U.S. Deploys Warships Near Venezuela – KXL

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    Acquired Through MGN Online on 08/23/2017

    Washington, DC – The Pentagon is reportedly sending three warships near Venezuela as President Trump looks to ramp up the pressure on Latin American drug cartels. Reuters cites two sources briefed on the matter.

    The Trump administration has designated Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs as global terrorist organizations. In an address on Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his country “will defend our seas, our skies and our lands” while also mentioning “the outlandish, bizarre threat of a declining empire.”

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    Tim Lantz

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  • Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. deported to Mexico

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    MEXICO CITY — Julio César Chávez Jr., whose high-profile boxing career was marred by substance abuse and other struggles and never approached the heights of his legendary father, was in Mexican custody Tuesday after being deported from the United States.

    His expulsion had been expected since July, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him outside his Studio City home and accused him of making “fraudulent statements” on his application to become a U.S. permanent resident.

    In Mexico, Chávez, 39, faces charges of organized crime affiliation and arms trafficking, Mexican authorities say.

    He is the son of Julio César Chávez — widely regarded as Mexico’s greatest boxer — and spent his career in the shadow of his fabled father.

    Boxers Julio César Chávez, right, and his son Julio César Chávez Jr., during a news conference in Los Angeles in May.

    (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

    His father both supported his troubled son and chastised his namesake, whose struggles included substance abuse, legal troubles and challenges in making weight for his bouts.

    Despite his highly publicized problems, Chávez won the World Boxing Council middleweight title in 2011 before losing the belt the following year.

    Chávez was turned over to Mexican law enforcement authorities at the Arizona border and was being held Tuesday in a federal lockup in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state, authorities here said.

    During her regular morning news conference, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the boxer was in Mexican custody.

    Days before his July arrest in Studio City, Chávez faced off in Anaheim for his last bout — against Jake Paul, the influencer-turned-pugilist. Chávez lost the fight.

    When he was arrested in July, U.S. authorities labeled Chávez an “affiliate” of the Sinaloa cartel, which is one of Mexico’s largest — and most lethal — drug-trafficking syndicates.

    Jake Paul, right, and Julio César Chávez Jr., left, exchange punches during their cruiserweight bout in Anaheim on June 28.

    Jake Paul, right, and Julio César Chávez Jr., left, exchange punches during their cruiserweight bout in Anaheim on June 28.

    (Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images)

    Chávez has faced criticism over alleged associations with cartel figures, including Ovidio Guzmán, a son of infamous drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, now serving a life sentence in a U.S prison for his leadership role in the Sinaloa cartel. Ovidio Guzmán recently pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking and other charges in federal court in Chicago and is reported to be cooperating with U.S. prosecutors.

    Controversies have long overshadowed the career of Chávez.

    Chávez served 13 days in jail for a 2012 drunk-driving conviction in Los Angeles County and was arrested by Los Angeles police in January 2024 on gun charges. According to his attorney, Michael Goldstein, a court adjudicating the gun case granted Chávez a “mental health diversion,” which, in some cases, can lead to dismissal of criminal charges.

    “I’m confident that the issues in Mexico will be cleared up, and he’ll be able to continue with his mental health diversion” in California, Goldstein said.

    A lingering question in the case is why Chávez was apparently allowed to travel freely between the United States and Mexico on several occasions despite a Mexican arrest warrant issued against him in March 2023.

    On Jan. 4, 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security, Chávez reentered the United States from Tijuana into San Diego via the San Ysidro port of entry. He was permitted in despite the pending Mexican arrest warrant and a U.S. determination just a few weeks earlier that Chávez represented “an egregious public safety threat,” the DHS stated in a July 3 news release revealing the boxer’s detention.

    Homeland Security said that the Biden administration — which was still in charge at the time of Chávez’s January entry — had determined that the boxer “was not an immigration enforcement priority.”

    While in training for the Paul match, Chávez spoke out publicly against President Trump’s ramped-up deportation agenda, which has sparked protests and denunciations across California. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he accused the administration of “attacking” Latinos.

    Chávez told The Times: “I wouldn’t want to be deported.”

    McDonnell reported from Mexico City and El Reda from Los Angeles. Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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    Patrick J. McDonnell, Jad El Reda

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  • Alleged leader of Sinaloa drug cartel and son of ‘El Chapo’ taken into US custody

    Alleged leader of Sinaloa drug cartel and son of ‘El Chapo’ taken into US custody

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    WASHINGTON — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a historic leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.

    A leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada was known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations while keeping a lower profile.

    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to his capture.

    “The Justice Department has taken into custody two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. They were arrested Thursday in El Paso.

    Zambada’s detention follows some important arrests of other Sinaloa cartel figures, including one of his sons and another one of Guzmán’s. Guzmán López was also a son of “El Chapo” Guzmán.

    Garland’s statement said both Zambada and Guzmán López were facing multiple charges “for leading the cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”

    “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Garland said.

    In recent years, Guzman’s sons have lead a faction of the cartel known as the little Chapos, or “Chapitos” that has been identified as one of the main exporters of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, to the U.S. market. “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. in 2019.

    They were seen as more violent and flamboyant than Zambada. Their security chief was arrested by Mexican authorities in November.

    One of them, Ovidio Guzmán López, was arrested and extradited to the U.S. last year. He pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago in September.

    In February, Zambada was charged in the Eastern District of New York with conspiring to manufacture and distribute fentanyl. Prosecutors described him as continuing to lead the Sinaloa cartel, “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.”

    A son of Zambada’s pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in San Diego in 2021 to being a leader in the Sinaloa cartel.

    Ismael Zambada Imperial admitted in a plea agreement to being a major coordinator in the trafficking operation, including importing and distributing tons of cocaine, heroin and marijuana from Mexico into the U.S.

    Zambada, one of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, was considered the strategist of the Sinaloa cartel, more involved in day-to-day operations than his flashier and better-known boss, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, whois serving a life sentence in the United States.

    Strong ties to Colombian cocaine suppliers and his cells across the United States made Zambada one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world. He had been among the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel since the 1970s, with their principal livelihood being the sale of narcotics in the United States, according to a U.S. Justice Department.

    Zambada was an old-fashioned capo in an era of younger kingpins known for their flamboyant lifestyles of club-hopping and brutal tactics of beheading, dismembering and even skinning their rivals. While Zambada fought those who challenged him, he was known for concentrating on the business side of trafficking and avoiding gruesome cartel violence that would draw attention.

    In an April 2010 interview with the Mexican magazine Proceso, he acknowledged that he lived in constant fear of going to prison and would contemplate suicide rather than be captured.

    “I’m terrified of being incarcerated,” Zambada said. “I’d like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.”

    The interview was surprising for a kingpin known for keeping his head down, but he gave strict instructions on where and when the encounter would take place, and the article gave no hint of his whereabouts.

    Zambada reputedly won the loyalty of locals in his home state of Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his largess, sponsoring local farmers and distributing money and beer in his birthplace of El Alamo.

    Although little is known about Zambada’s early life, he is believed to have gotten his start in drug trafficking as an enforcer in the 1970s.

    By the early 1990s, he was a major player in the Juarez cartel, transporting tons of cocaine and marijuana.

    Zambada started gaining the trust of Colombian traffickers, allegiances that helped him come out on top in the cartel world of ever-shifting alliances. Eventually, he became so powerful that he broke off from the Juarez cartel, but still managed to keep strong ties with the gang and avoided a turf war. He also developed a partnership with “El Chapo” Guzman that would take him to the top of the Sinaloa Cartel.

    __
    Verza reported from Mexico City. AP writer Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report.

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • El Mayo and son: New indictment brings father and son narco tale back to the forefront

    El Mayo and son: New indictment brings father and son narco tale back to the forefront

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    CHICAGO — A new superseding indictment filed this week against one of the powerhouse players in the illicit drug trade in Chicago brings the story of a father and son’s differing paths to the forefront.

    The fifth superseding indictment was filed against Ismael Zambada Garcia or “El Mayo”, 76, is the current top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel that controls a majority of the illicit drugs sold in Chicago.

    El Mayo’s son took a differing path.

    Jesús Vicente Zambada Niebla, known as “El Vicentillo,” turned on the cartel and is now in witness protection, the ABC 7 I-Team has learned.

    The new indictment is underscored by what El Mayo’s son Vicente told authorities over the years from a Chicago jail cell, after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges in November 2018, and was sentenced the next year to 15 years in prison.

    READ MORE: $15M reward for Ismael Zambada Garcia suggests Chicago has new Public Enemy No. 1

    The kingpin El Chapo remains at the center of this narco tale.

    Chapo is locked up for life at the Supermax prison in Colorado, while his cartel co-founder, El Mayo, has assumed the Sinaloa throne and acts as overlord of the cartel that has dominated drug sales in Chicago, controlling 80 percent of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl sales, federal authorities contend.

    El Mayo has been under indictment in Chicago for fifteen years; A career fugitive with a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, now facing the new indictment out of New York.

    “We haven’t really had a photo of this guy probably for 25 years,” Jack Riley told the I-Team.

    SEE ALSO | 50 El Mencho gangsters arrested by Chicago DEA in Project Python, the CJNG cartel takedown

    Riley is a legendary former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration outpost in Chicago, literally writing the book on El Chapo titled “Drug Warrior: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo and the Rise of America’s Opioid Crisis.”

    Riley said with the declining state of U.S.-Mexico relations, capturing El Mayo is a long shot because he is protected and likely hiding out in the open.

    “If I was a betting man, I’d bet on him getting away,” Riley explained. “I think he’s insulated enough. I think his health is not good, and he’s had the ability and the routine of staying one step ahead.”

    El Mayo’s son “El Vicentillo” is thought to be in U.S. witness protection.

    On the day Vicente was sentenced in 2019, the courthouse in Chicago was crawling with heavily armed guards.

    RELATED: El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzmán López, pleads not guilty to drug, money laundering charges in Chicago

    Law enforcement sources tell the I-Team Vicente was recently released from the MCC in Chicago and a few weeks ago, the Mexican newspaper Zeta Libre Como El Viento published a purported photo of the druglord’s at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington County, Virginia, allegedly escorted by authorities while being transferred to federal witness protection.

    “If I was him, I’d have gone into the witness protection,” Riley explained. “At least initially, until he gets a feeling of what’s going on down south.”

    Riley continued, “His father [El Mayo] certainly has influence, but there are a lot of, I think, alliances that have broken down since El Chapo was arrested.”

    “[Vicente’s] cooperation led to additional indictments, so he’s got a lot of enemies,” Riley told the I-Team. “It doesn’t matter who his father is.”

    Riley is pushing for the Sinaloa cartel to be designated by the United States as a terrorist organization; not just a drug trafficking group.

    Considering the thousands of lives they take in Cook County and elsewhere. Riley said a terror group designation would free up additional funds-and allow for more aggressive tactics against cartel leaders here, at the border and in Mexico.

    MAKING HEADLINES: 83-year-old connected to several suburban bank robberies, arrested after Valentine’s Day heist: FBI

    Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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  • El Mayo and son: New indictment brings father and son narco tale back to the forefront

    El Mayo and son: New indictment brings father and son narco tale back to the forefront

    [ad_1]

    CHICAGO — A new superseding indictment filed this week against one of the powerhouse players in the illicit drug trade in Chicago brings the story of a father and son’s differing paths to the forefront.

    The fifth superseding indictment was filed against Ismael Zambada Garcia or “El Mayo”, 76, is the current top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel that controls a majority of the illicit drugs sold in Chicago.

    El Mayo’s son took a differing path.

    Jesús Vicente Zambada Niebla, known as “El Vicentillo,” turned on the cartel and is now in witness protection, the ABC 7 I-Team has learned.

    The new indictment is underscored by what El Mayo’s son Vicente told authorities over the years from a Chicago jail cell, after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges in November 2018, and was sentenced the next year to 15 years in prison.

    READ MORE: $15M reward for Ismael Zambada Garcia suggests Chicago has new Public Enemy No. 1

    The kingpin El Chapo remains at the center of this narco tale.

    Chapo is locked up for life at the Supermax prison in Colorado, while his cartel co-founder, El Mayo, has assumed the Sinaloa throne and acts as overlord of the cartel that has dominated drug sales in Chicago, controlling 80 percent of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl sales, federal authorities contend.

    El Mayo has been under indictment in Chicago for fifteen years; A career fugitive with a $15 million U.S. bounty on his head, now facing the new indictment out of New York.

    “We haven’t really had a photo of this guy probably for 25 years,” Jack Riley told the I-Team.

    SEE ALSO | 50 El Mencho gangsters arrested by Chicago DEA in Project Python, the CJNG cartel takedown

    Riley is a legendary former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration outpost in Chicago, literally writing the book on El Chapo titled “Drug Warrior: Inside the Hunt for El Chapo and the Rise of America’s Opioid Crisis.”

    Riley said with the declining state of U.S.-Mexico relations, capturing El Mayo is a long shot because he is protected and likely hiding out in the open.

    “If I was a betting man, I’d bet on him getting away,” Riley explained. “I think he’s insulated enough. I think his health is not good, and he’s had the ability and the routine of staying one step ahead.”

    El Mayo’s son “El Vicentillo” is thought to be in U.S. witness protection.

    On the day Vicente was sentenced in 2019, the courthouse in Chicago was crawling with heavily armed guards.

    RELATED: El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzmán López, pleads not guilty to drug, money laundering charges in Chicago

    Law enforcement sources tell the I-Team Vicente was recently released from the MCC in Chicago and a few weeks ago, the Mexican newspaper Zeta Libre Como El Viento published a purported photo of the druglord’s at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington County, Virginia, allegedly escorted by authorities while being transferred to federal witness protection.

    “If I was him, I’d have gone into the witness protection,” Riley explained. “At least initially, until he gets a feeling of what’s going on down south.”

    Riley continued, “His father [El Mayo] certainly has influence, but there are a lot of, I think, alliances that have broken down since El Chapo was arrested.”

    “[Vicente’s] cooperation led to additional indictments, so he’s got a lot of enemies,” Riley told the I-Team. “It doesn’t matter who his father is.”

    Riley is pushing for the Sinaloa cartel to be designated by the United States as a terrorist organization; not just a drug trafficking group.

    Considering the thousands of lives they take in Cook County and elsewhere. Riley said a terror group designation would free up additional funds-and allow for more aggressive tactics against cartel leaders here, at the border and in Mexico.

    Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Cocaine, Marijuana… Jellyfish? Cartels Muscle in on New Export Business – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

    Cocaine, Marijuana… Jellyfish? Cartels Muscle in on New Export Business – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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    For decades the fishermen around the Santa Clara gulf in the Mexican state of Sonora have lived from fishing and selling jellyfish, a product that has no market in Mexico but sells well in Asia. This year the local industry was expecting a good season. But now the Sinaloa Cartel wants a piece of the multimillion business.

    The “cannonball jellyfish” is one of a dozen sea products exported from Mexico to Singapore and Vietnam and leaving over $10 million in revenue during a three-month season, according to Mexican fishing authorities.

    By this time of the year, the fishermen should be already processing tons of jellyfish to be sent to other major Mexican companies who run the export side of business. But June is over and no fisherman has dared to get into the sea. The threat is real: Heavily-armed cartel members are making sure no one goes out to fish.

    “They want us to work for them exclusively, but we are afraid, we really don’t know what to do,” a local fisherman in the small city of Guaymas, Sonora, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation from the cartel, told The Daily Beast.

    To be ready for exportation, the jellyfish needs to get dehydrated using tons of salt, a part of the process that only a “salina” (an industrial salt processing company) can do. Years earlier these companies worked together with the local fishermen, buying their product and then processing the jellyfish and exporting it themselves to different companies in Asia, mostly in…

    Original Author Link click here to read complete story..

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