A senior Mexican cartel leader who faked his own death to “live a life of luxury” in California has been arrested and charged with drug trafficking, U.S. officials said Thursday.
Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested Tuesday in Riverside, California, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Gutierrez-Ochoa is the son-in-law of Nemesio Oseguera-Cervantes58, also known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which officials described as “one of the most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
Nicole Argentieri, a senior Justice Department official, said Gutierrez-Ochoa “allegedly directed the importation of tons of methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States and engaged in violence to support the cartel’s criminal activities.” .
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Gutierrez-Ochoa “allegedly faked his own death and assumed a false identity to escape justice and live a life of luxury in California.”
According to court documents, Gutierrez-Ochoa began working for the Jalisco Cartel in 2014 and coordinated the shipment of 40,000 kilograms (88,000 pounds) of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to the United States .
In 2021, he allegedly kidnapped two members of the Mexican navy in an attempt to secure the release of Oseguera-Cervantes’ wife, who was arrested by Mexican authorities.
Oseguera-Cervantes, the founder of the Jalisco cartel, was also indicted in the United States and the State Department offered a $10 million reward for his capture.
“He is the number one priority of the DEA and frankly federal law enforcement in the United States,” said DEA Agent Matthew Donahue. told CBS News in 2019.
In December 2022, the Mexican army captured Antonio Oseguerathe brother of “El Mencho”. He allegedly oversaw violent actions and logistics, purchased weapons and laundered money for the Jalisco cartel. The U.S. Treasury Department listed Antonio Oseguera’s pseudonym as “El Tony Montana,” an apparent reference to the fictional protagonist of the 1983 gangster film “Scarface.”
The Jalisco cartel is best known for producing millions of doses of deadly fentanyl and smuggling them into the United States disguised as Xanax, Percocet or oxycodone. Such pills cause approximately 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States.
“Defeating the two cartels responsible for America’s deadly drug crisis is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) top operational priority, and with the arrest of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, we are one step closer. ” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. said in a statement Thursday.
Earlier this year, the United States sanctions imposed about a group of Mexican accountants and businesses allegedly linked to a timeshare fraud ring run by the Jalisco cartel as part of a multimillion-dollar scheme targeting Americans.
