Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of men, including 16 on the run, in an international drug smuggling operation orchestrated by Mexico’s brutal Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
“The Jalisco New Generation Cartel casts a dark shadow that stretches from the Mexican states of Jalisco and Michoacán, far beyond the country’s borders, to the streets and communities of Houston and beyond,” said Alamdar Hamdani. the U.S. attorney said Monday. Announcement of charges.
Alamdar S. Hamdani (C), United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, speaks at a press conference on April 1, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images)
Hamdani described CJNG as “one of Mexico’s most powerful and dangerous criminal groups, characterized by extreme violence and a business model of trafficking in the most lethal substances.”
Monday’s 50-count indictment charges 41 people with trafficking cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine and related crimes in the Houston and Galveston areas.
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The indictment charges that all 41 defendants were operating under the control of CJNG. Last week, law enforcement took 20 of the defendants into custody. Three people are already in custody, two have since died, and the remaining 16 remain at large.
Hamdani said the fugitives are in Mexico, Houston and as far away as Laos. All defendants are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, which carries a sentence of life in prison.
The indictment, returned in December, seeks the forfeiture of illegal proceeds from the alleged crimes, estimated at $10 million.
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The investigation, dubbed “Operation Rainmaker,” and subsequent arrests were the result of a five-year investigation, prosecutors said.
