Mexico Hands Over Drug Cartel Leader to Face Federal Charges

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)'s Office of International Affairs coordinated with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and extradition of a notorious Mexican drug cartel leader, the DOJ announced Tuesday.

Omar Cuenca-Marino, 41, the alleged leader of the Los Rojos drug cartel, was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 21, 2016. Now, after Cuenca-Marino was extradited to Georgia, where much of his drug distributions allegedly took place, he has been arraigned before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Russell G. Vineyard on federal charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and unlawful import of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin into the United States.

According to the charges, between approximately 2013 and 2016, Cuenca-Marino's cartel was responsible for importing large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine from Mexico into the United States, specifically in the state of Georgia. The federal investigation identified Cuenca-Marino as the Mexico-based kingpin of this cartel who oversaw the preparation of thousands of kilograms of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin in Mexico and arranged to have the drugs smuggled into America, using buses and tractor-trailers. Cuenca-Marino also allegedly directed the collection of millions of dollars of drug proceeds for transport from the U.S. back to Mexico.

For instance:

On October 11, 2013, a law enforcement operation in Georgia led to the seizure of approximately 75 kilograms of methamphetamine, 23 kilograms of heroin, and 47 kilograms of cocaine. Cuenca-Marino allegedly directed the smuggling of these drugs into the United States for distribution in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
On November 20, 2015, law enforcement seized 76 packages of cocaine from a vehicle in a parking lot in Duluth, Georgia. The investigation revealed that Cuenca-Marino had relayed the phone number of the Atlanta-based trafficker who was about to take possession of the drugs.
On February 9, 2016, law enforcement stopped a vehicle traveling on Interstate 44 in Phelps County, Missouri, and found $425,900 in drug proceeds. The driver, who was en route to Mexico, allegedly contacted Cuenca-Marino the following day to report that the vehicle had been in an "accident."

Many of those captured were subject to longstanding U.S. extradition requests that were not honored during the Biden-Harris administration. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that designated international drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move which spurred Mexico to honor the extradition requests, according to the DOJ.

"As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs. We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels. We will not rest until we secure justice for the American people," U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a press statement.

Federal prosecutors will evaluate whether additional terrorism charges are appropriate based on the policy set forth in Trump's executive order as well as whether capital punishment is warranted pursuant to Trump's directive on "Restoring the Death Penalty" and Bondi's guidance concerning application of the death penalty.