A business colleague executed a Mexican cartel leader who sold thousands of kilograms of illegal drugs to the United States for “lying,” or so the public was told.
Prosecutors said that 37-year-old high-ranking official Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación lived a “life of luxury” in California and staged his own death to elude Mexican police.
In Riverside, he was taken into custody on Tuesday.
International drug trafficking and money laundering accusations have been brought against Gutierrez-Ochoa and Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” the son-in-law of the CJNG’s head, in federal court.
Gutierrez-Ochoa started working for CJNG, which prosecutors described as one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels, in 2014, according to court filings. He then “coordinated the transportation and distribution” of roughly 2,000 kilos of cocaine and 40,000 kilograms of methamphetamine in Mexico.
Prosecutors claimed that all of those illegal substances were headed for the United States. Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly used violence to enhance his drug trafficking, according to the prosecution.
He allegedly abducted two Mexican Navy personnel in November 2021 after El Mencho’s wife was taken into custody. After being hunted by the police, he escaped to California and bought a lavish house in Riverside under a false identity.
Prosecutors claim that CJNG’s drug trafficking operations provided the money utilized to buy that Riverside home.
El Mencho may have assisted Gutierrez-Ochoa in his plot by helping him stage his own death, according to court documents. According to reports, El Mencho told colleagues that he killed Gutierrez-Ochoa because he was “lying.”
Prosecutors claim that Gutierrez-Ochoa fled to the United States in order to be with El Mencho’s daughter.
El Mencho is still at large as a fugitive as of Thursday, and U.S. authorities have charged him with a number of serious offenses. Up to $10 million is being offered by the US Department of State for information that results in his apprehension and/or conviction.
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Gutierrez-Ochoa is accused by the prosecution of conspiring to launder CJNG’s drug trafficking profits and of knowing, intending, and having reasonable cause to believe that five kilograms or more of cocaine and five hundred grams or more of methamphetamine would be illegally imported into the United States.
He faces a life sentence if found guilty.
“The Jalisco Cartel — one of the world’s most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations — is weaker today because of the tenacious efforts of law enforcement to track down and arrest a cartel leader who allegedly faked his own death and assumed a false identity to evade justice and live a life of luxury in California,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stated. “As these charges allege, Gutierrez-Ochoa directed the trafficking of lethal narcotics, causing untold destruction in our communities. To those seeking to harm Americans and to profit from their pain, this arrest should serve as a reminder — we will find you and bring you to justice.”
The Source: KTLA
