El Chapo

[patrickt]

A friend of mine in a poor neighborhood in Oaxaca, Mexico, has a dog that when the door opens one inch he shoots out like a bullet. I changed his name from Toby to El Chapo. Now when he takes off the neighbors shout, "Chapo escapes again."

[waltky]

El Chapo cohort pleads guilty to drug trafficking...

Sinaloa Cartel aide, charged with 'El Chapo' 21 years ago, pleads guilty
Nov. 3, 2016 -- Antonio "The Engineer" Reynoso-Gonzalez, a member of the Sinaloa Cartel who was charged in 1995 along with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Reynoso-Gonzalez was charged with Guzman and 22 others with conspiracy to import and to possess cocaine with intent to distribute by the Southern District of California more than two decades ago.

The 72-year-old was extradited from Mexico to the United States in September 2015 along with 12 others who face charges over violent crimes and drug trafficking. Reynoso-Gonzalez faces a minimum sentence of 10 years but prosecutors will recommend a sentence of about eight years on account of his age, health and guilty plea.

Guzman used a Los Angeles food importation business Reynoso-Gonzalez's family owned to add legitimacy to his Sinaloa Cartel. Reynoso-Gonzalez admitted to paying a man to lease a warehouse in Mexico that would bear his family company's name, all the while knowing it would be used to store cocaine that would be sold in the United States, his plea agreement revealed Wednesday shows. Reynoso-Gonzalez also admitted to arranging a 860-pound cocaine shipment from Los Angeles to Chicago.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne...?spt=sec&or=tn

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd heard dey was caught dog-fightin' Chihuahuas... mg: Sinaloa Cartel leaders' sons arrested in Mexico Nov. 18, 2016 -- Police in Mexico's Chihuahua state said two sons of leaders in drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel have been arrested.

The arrests were carried out in separate operations this week, the Attorney General of the State of Chihuahua said in statements. Jesús "El Tony Juniors" Antonio was arrested along with Davis "El Padre" on Tuesday. Both face charges of crimes against public health and illegal possession of firearms. Authorities said Antonio is the son of "Tony Trocas," who is "one of the largest drug dealers in several municipalities and responsible for several homicides for the Sinaloa cartel." Davis is accused of working as a henchman for "Tony Trocas." The men were arrested while carrying 118 small bags of cocaine and a 9 mm pistol.

The Attorney General of the State of Chihuahua on Wednesday said Mauricio "El Mauri," the son of Mauricio "El Papacho" Luna Aguilar, was arrested on Tuesday. The father is accused of committing multiple homicides. A woman, identified as Genoveva C., was arrested along with Mauricio. Police seized a grenade and a bag of marijuana. Those arrested were handed over to judicial authorities. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne...in-Mexico.jpg]

[waltky]

Drug world suffers a couple of setbacks...

Alleged 'El Chapo' henchman arrested in Mexico
Nov. 22, 2016 -- Mexico's Attorney General's Office said one of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's most wanted fugitives accused of working for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel has been arrested.

The fugitive -- identified by the DEA as Luis Arellano-Romero -- was captured by Mexico's Criminal Investigation Agency in Ciudad Juárez, which borders the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas.

Mexico's Attorney General's Office charged the fugitive with crimes of illicit association, organized crime, crimes against public health, money laundering and firearms trafficking. He was taken to Mexico City "where he will continue the proceedings against him," the Attorney General's Office said in a statement released Sunday. In the United States, the DEA said Arellano-Romero is wanted for "conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance" in the Western District of Texas.

In 2012, Arellano-Romero was indicted in absentia along with Guzman and 22 other alleged high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel members in Texas. "Murder, kidnapping, money laundering, and drug trafficking are the four corners of this organization's foundation," U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman said in a previous statement. "For years, their violence, ruthlessness, and complete disregard for human life and the rule of law have greatly impacted the citizens of the Republic of Mexico and the United States. They must be held accountable for their criminal actions." Mexican officials did not disclose details of a possible extradition.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne...?spt=sec&or=tn

See also:

Colombia arrests 22 suspected 'Clan of the Gulf' gang members
Nov. 22, 2016 -- Colombian police said 22 suspected ''Clan of the Gulf" drug gang members have been arrested in the country's Meta, Guaviare and Vichada states.

The men were arrested as they attempted to expand the gang's territory. Among them are two allegedly high-ranking members of the gang. "We will not rest until we destroy this emporium of organized crime," Colombian National Police Gen. Jorge Hernando Nieto said in a statement.

The "Clan of the Gulf" is led by a man known as Otoniel, whom Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said is one of the main enemies of the government. Colombian police said the gang was also attempting to extend drug-smuggling routes to Russia.

The two alleged high-ranking members -- identified as "JJ" and "Veterino" -- were sent by Otoniel in attempts to recapture territory previously lost. "These two men led drug trafficking from Vichada, Meta, Guaviare, Casanare and Cundinamarca to Panama, Guatemala, Mexico, United States, Spain, Holland, Italy, England and Russia," Colombian police said. In the operations, five rifles, two shotguns, two 9mm pistols and 10 grenades were seized, along with ammunition and equipment for the weapons, police said.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne...?spt=sec&or=tn

[waltky]

El Chapo extradited to the U.S....

Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' Guzman is extradited to US
Jan 19,`17 -- Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's most notorious cartel kingpin who twice made brazen prison escapes and spent years on the run as the country's most wanted man, was extradited to the U.S. Thursday to face drug trafficking and other charges.

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department announced Guzman was handed over to U.S. authorities for transportation to the U.S. on Thursday, the last full day of President Barack Obama's administration and a day before Donald Trump is to be inaugurated. The U.S. Justice Department issued a statement confirming that Guzman was en route to the United States and expressed gratitude to Mexico for its cooperation. A senior U.S. official said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration took custody of Guzman in Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas, and a plane carrying him departed for New York at 5:31 p.m. EST. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and agreed to give the information only if not quoted by name.

The convicted boss of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's largest drug trafficking organizations, had been held most recently at a prison near Ciudad Juarez. He was recaptured a year ago after escaping from a second maximum-security prison through a tunnel dug to his cell. The 2015 escape was highly embarrassing for the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto, and Mexican officials were seen as eager to hand the headache off to the United States afterward. Guzman's lawyers have fought extradition since his recapture. "It was illegal. They didn't even notify us," said lawyer Andres Granados, who accused the government of extraditing his client to distract from nationwide gasoline protests. "They handled it politically to obscure the situation of the gas price hike. It's totally political."

A handcuffed Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City. According to Mexico's Foreign Ministry, Guzman has been extradited to the United States on Thursday, Jan. 19 2017.

Guzman, who is in his late 50s, faces the possibility of life in a U.S. prison under multiple indictments in six jurisdictions around the United States, including New York, San Diego, Chicago and Miami. A federal indictment in the Eastern District of New York, where Guzman is expected to be prosecuted, accuses him of overseeing a trafficking cartel with thousands of members and billions of dollars in profits laundered back to Mexico. It says Guzman and other members of the Sinaloa cartel employed hit men who carried out murders, kidnappings and acts of torture. He was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in July 2009. A superseding indictment was issued in May charging him and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada with a variety of drug, gun and money laundering charges as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise.

The Mexican Foreign Relations Department's statement said a court had ruled against Guzman's appeal and found that his extradition would be constitutional. "The criminal Joaquin Guzman Loera was extradited this afternoon to face his pending legal cases," Mexican Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong tweeted. Guzman's first prison break was in 2001. He spent more than a decade at large before being captured in 2014, becoming something of a folk legend for a segment of Mexico's population for his defiance of authorities. He was immortalized in ballads known as "narco-corridos." The following year he broke out through the mile-long tunnel dug directly to the shower in his cell.

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