By Federal authorities have arrested a high-ranking Mexican cartel leader who allegedly faked his own death and lived luxuriously in California, charging him with orchestrating the trafficking of massive quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, 37, son-in-law of notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) leader El Mencho, was arrested November 19 in Riverside after authorities discovered him living under an assumed identity in a luxury residence allegedly purchased with drug proceeds.
“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,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.
According to court documents, Gutierrez-Ochoa began working for CJNG around 2014 and personally coordinated the movement of approximately 40,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine through Mexico destined for U.S. markets. Prosecutors allege he employed violence to further the cartel’s operations, including the 2021 kidnapping of two Mexican Navy members in an attempt to secure the release of El Mencho’s wife.
The elaborate scheme to fake his death allegedly involved El Mencho himself, who told associates he had killed Gutierrez-Ochoa for lying, providing cover for his son-in-law to slip into the United States. El Mencho remains a fugitive with a $10 million U.S. State Department reward for his capture.
“We allege that Gutierrez-Ochoa, a high-ranking member of the CJNG and the son-in-law of El Mencho, conspired to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States on behalf of the Jalisco Cartel,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “The Jalisco Cartel is responsible for unprecedented violence in Mexico and helping to fuel the deadly drug crisis in the United States.”
Gutierrez-Ochoa faces charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for import into the United States, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and maximum of life imprisonment. Additional money laundering conspiracy charges could add 20 years to his sentence.
The case, investigated by the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division, is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation targeting high-level drug trafficking organizations threatening the United States.
Source: DOJ
