A top member of Mexico’s powerful drug cartel, formerly led by notorious kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, will face charges of international trafficking in drugs and firearms after being extradited to the United States, the Justice Department has said. this Tuesday (04).
Described by the department as a murderer and “head of the ring” of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico from 2009 to 2016, Jorge Ivan Gastelum Avila allegedly supervised at least 200 armed men and conspired to distribute cocaine to the US, according to the justice body.
Mexican authorities captured Gastelum, also known as “Cholo Ivan,” and Guzman in 2016, the department said in a statement. Gastelum remained detained in Mexico until his extradition to the US on April 1, the department said.
The court said Gastelum, 42, made an initial appearance in District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday on drug and firearms charges.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on the drug conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive 30-year sentence for a firearms offense, the department added.
Guzmán, 65, was convicted in New York in 2019 of trafficking billions of dollars in drugs to the US and conspiring to kill enemies. He is serving a life sentence at Supermax Penitentiary in Colorado, the safest federal prison in the US.
Source: CNN Brasil
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