Sinaloa Cartel chief Fidel Felix-Ochoa charged with fentanyl trafficking

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An alleged prime chief of the Sinaloa Cartel accused of funneling huge portions of fentanyl into the U.S. appeared in federal courtroom Monday, going through fees that would put him behind bars for all times.

In line with the Division of Justice, 53-year-old Fidel Felix-Ochoa was a senior determine within the cartel who oversaw its drug trafficking and cash laundering operations.

Prosecutors allege he coordinated the smuggling of a whole bunch of kilograms of fentanyl and cocaine into the U.S., utilizing couriers who transported the narcotics by automobile and thru the mail.

Final yr, the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel was designated by the U.S. as a International Terrorist Group and a Specifically Designated World Terrorist.

An alleged Sinaloa Cartel chief accused of funneling huge quantities of fentanyl into the U.S. appeared in federal courtroom and faces a possible life sentence. (Division of Justice)

"The fees goal an alleged senior chief of the Sinaloa Cartel who's accused of directing the stream of huge portions of fentanyl and different lethal narcotics into america," U.S. Legal professional Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida mentioned. "Whereas these are allegations that should be confirmed in courtroom, this case displays our Workplace’s unwavering dedication to dismantling transnational legal organizations and defending American communities from the devastating penalties of drug trafficking. No cartel chief is past the attain of the rule of regulation."

Prosecutors allege Felix-Ochoa directed co-conspirators to retailer the narcotics at stash homes earlier than distributing them to sellers and clients throughout the nation, together with Florida, Arizona, California, Texas and Massachusetts.

The investigation led to the seizure of roughly 73,000 fentanyl capsules, 21 kilograms of pure fentanyl, 243 kilos of crystal methamphetamine, two kilograms of cocaine and 24 firearms.

DOJ ANNOUNCES CONVICTION IN MINNESOTA METH RING LINKED TO SINALOA CARTEL

An alleged Sinaloa Cartel chief accused of funneling huge quantities of fentanyl into the U.S. appeared in federal courtroom and faces a possible life sentence. (Division of Justice)

Felix-Ochoa is charged with conspiracy to distribute a managed substance and, if convicted, faces a most sentence of life in jail.

The case unfolds amid an escalating crackdown on the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl community.

Joaquín Guzmán López, 39, one of many so-called Chapitos who took management of a significant cartel faction after his father Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán’s 2019 conviction and life sentence, pleaded responsible in December in Chicago to drug trafficking and persevering with legal enterprise fees. Prosecutors mentioned he oversaw the motion of huge drug shipments into the U.S., typically by underground tunnels.

ALLEGED SINALOA CARTEL FENTANYL PRODUCER CHARGED IN NEWLY UNSEALED US FEDERAL INDICTMENT

Drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in Mexico in 2014. (Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)

Guzmán López was arrested in July 2024 alongside longtime cartel determine Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada after touchdown on a personal jet in Texas.

The plea adopted an analogous settlement reached months earlier by his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, on trafficking and cash laundering fees.

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Prosecutors say the Sinaloa Cartel stays one of many major drivers of fentanyl flowing into the U.S., fueling document overdose deaths nationwide. The artificial opioid is way stronger than heroin and has devastated communities throughout the nation.

El Chapo stays in a maximum-security U.S. jail serving life with out parole for working a multibillion-dollar trafficking empire. Prosecutors say his sons expanded fentanyl manufacturing and distribution after entering into management roles.