"CJNG Cartel", High-Ranking Mexican Leader Arrested on Charges of International Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering After Faking Own Death to Live in California Under Assumed Identity

A federal court in the Central District of California unsealed a criminal complaint yesterday charging Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa — a high-ranking member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the son-in-law of the CJNG’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho — with international drug trafficking and money laundering offenses. Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested in Riverside, California, on Nov. 19.

“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,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “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.”

“Over the last decade, Cristian Gutierrez-Ochoa, a close associate of CJNG’s top leader, allegedly directed the importation of tons of methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States and engaged in violence to aid the cartel’s criminal activities,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division is committed to disrupting and dismantling Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Tuesday’s arrest sends a powerful message to cartel leadership: we will work tirelessly with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to hold them accountable.”

“Defeating the two cartels responsible for the deadly drug crisis in the United States is the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s top operational priority, and with the arrest of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, we are much closer,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “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. The Jalisco Cartel is responsible for unprecedented violence in Mexico and helping to fuel the deadly drug crisis in the United States. The DEA is relentlessly committed to defeating the Jalisco Cartel, and we will exhaust every tool in the justice system to fight back, to save American lives, and to bring this cartel to justice.”

According to court documents, Gutierrez-Ochoa, 37, is alleged to have started working for the CJNG, one of the most violent drug cartels in Mexico, in around 2014, and to have personally coordinated the transportation and distribution of approximately 40,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and approximately 2,000 kilograms of cocaine in Mexico, all destined for the United States.

Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly furthered CJNG’s drug trafficking and money laundering activities through violence. In around November 2021, Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly kidnapped two members of the Mexican Navy in an attempt to secure the release of El Mencho’s wife, who had been arrested by Mexican authorities. After being sought by Mexican authorities, Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly fled into the United States, assumed a fictitious identity, and resided in a luxury residence in Riverside, California, purchased by CJNG’s money laundering operatives with drug trafficking proceeds.

According to court documents, El Mencho may have assisted Gutierrez-Ochoa in his scheme to fake his own death by telling associates that El Mencho murdered Gutierrez-Ochoa for lying. This helped Gutierrez-Ochoa sneak into the United States to be with El Mencho’s daughter. The Justice Department returned a superseding indictment  against El Mencho in April 2022, charging him with leading a continuing criminal enterprise to manufacture and distribute fentanyl for importation into the United States. The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction. El Mencho remains a fugitive.

Gutierrez-Ochoa is charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, knowing, intending, and having reasonable cause to believe that those controlled substances would be unlawfully imported into the United States. Gutierrez-Ochoa is also charged with conspiracy to launder CJNG’s drug trafficking proceeds. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years in prison and a maximum penalty of life in prison on the drug distribution conspiracy charge, and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the money laundering conspiracy charge. A federal district court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Lernik Begian and Doug Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California provided valuable assistance.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug trafficking organizations and other criminal networks that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.