DOD ANNOUNCES ALLEGED DRUG CARTEL LEADER EXTRADITED FROM MEXICO TO U.S.

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, November 17, 2014

Alleged Leader of a Mexican Drug Cartel Extradited to United States
One of the alleged leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a Mexican drug-trafficking cartel responsible for importing multi-ton quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States, was extradited to the United States from Mexico on Nov. 15, 2014, and will be making an initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay of the District of Columbia.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director Joseph S. Campbell of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, New York Division Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Executive Associate Director Peter T. Edge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) made the announcement.

“Over the past two decades, the Beltran Leyva Cartel has distributed tens of thousands of kilograms of dangerous narcotics and engaged in a campaign of violence that sparked drug wars and jeopardized public safety across North America,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “Today’s extradition of alleged kingpin Alfredo Beltran Leyva is an important step toward stamping out an organization that has ruined the lives of so many.  The Justice Department is committed to working with our international partners to bring the rest of the organization to justice.”  

“The arrest and extradition of Alfredo Beltran Leyva represents a significant milestone in combating transnational criminal organizations,” said FBI Assistant Director Campbell.  “It is through collaborative efforts with our law enforcement partners that the United States will stem the tide of this continuing threat.”

“For years Alfredo Beltran Leyva, along with his brothers, was responsible for not only smuggling tons of cocaine to the United States, but also for the violence that has plagued the lives of Mexican citizens,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Hunt.  “His extradition to the United States is an example of a commitment to international cooperation and the rule of law.”

“The illegal drugs distributed throughout the United States by the Beltran Levya Cartel ruined countless lives in this country and sowed violence and chaos throughout Mexico,” said HSI Executive Associate Director Edge.  “The arrest and extradition of Alfredo Beltran Levya to face justice here for his crimes is a great victory for ICE HSI and our partner agencies.”

Alfredo Beltran Levya, 43, was indicted on Aug. 24, 2012, for international narcotics trafficking conspiracy in connection with his leadership role in theinternational drug-trafficking cartel bearing his family name.

According to a motion for pretrial detention filed by prosecutors, between the early 1990s until his January 2008 arrest by Mexican law enforcement, Beltran Levya allegedly led the Beltran Levya Organization with his brothers Hector Beltran Levya and Arturo Beltran Levya, the latter of whom was killed in a December 2009 shootout with the Mexican army.  Since the 1990s, the Beltran Levya Organization, together with the Sinaloa Cartel, allegedly directed a large-scale drug transportation network, shipping multi-ton quantities of cocaine from South America, through Central America and Mexico, and finally into the United States via land, air and sea.  The organization also employed “sicarios,” or hitmen, who allegedly carried out hundreds of acts of violence, including murders, kidnappings, tortures and violent collections of drug debts, at the direction of the organization.

Following the January 2008 arrest of  Alfredo Beltran Leyva by Mexican law enforcement authorities, the Beltran Leyva Organization severed its relationship with the Sinaloa Cartel, which was blamed for the arrest.  This resultedin a violent war between the two drug cartels, and the murder of thousands of citizens in Mexico, including numerous law enforcement officers and officials.

On May 30, 2008, the President added the Beltran Leyva Organization to the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.  On Aug. 20, 2009, the President specifically designated Beltran Leyva as a specially designated drug trafficker under the same Kingpin Act.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The investigation is led by the FBI’s El Paso Office, in partnership with the DEA’s New York Field Division and HSI’s New York Office, as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.  This case is being prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs Section, with the assistance of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs.  The Justice Department thanks the government of Mexico for their assistance in this extradition.

U.S. MARSHALS TARGETED GANG OPERATIONS NET 104 ARRESTS

FROM:  U.S. MARSHALS 

Joe Palmer, Deputy U.S. Marshal

Northern District of California 

U.S. Marshals Conclude Targeted Gang Operation

Multi Agency Two Week Operation leads to 104 Arrests

Oakland, CA – The U.S. Marshals in the Northern and Eastern District of California today announce the conclusion of a two week operation which resulted in the arrest of 104 wanted violent fugitives and gang members from throughout the region.

Centered in the cities of Oakland and Sacramento, the United States Marshals Service’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force, along with several state and local agencies, conducted a two week high-risk fugitive initiative targeting gang members and violent offenders. These fugitives, whose charges ranged from probation violations to murder, were singled out because of their propensity to commit violence in the streets of California, whether through the crime itself or through their gang associations and their violent backgrounds.

The operation resulted in the arrests of 104 individuals, 27 of whom were known gang members. During the operation, 8 firearms were also recovered. Additionally, 10 grams of Cocaine, 2 pounds of Methamphetamine, and one pound of black tar heroin were seized. Of the 9 arrests for murder/attempted murder, 7 were wanted by the Oakland Police Department. The 104 arrests were broken down as follows:

104 Total Arrests
9 Murder/Attempted Murders
9 Assaults
14 Burglary/Robberies
10 Weapons Offenses
3 Sexual Offenses
2 Failure-to-appear/report
32 Narcotics/Drug Offenses
1 Fraud
24 Parole/Probation Violations

“This operation, as with past operations we have conducted in a similar fashion, continue to highlight the efforts and the ability of the federal government to fight crime at the local, as well as regional and national level,” said U.S. Marshal Don O’Keefe. “As we all know, crime is not contained to major cities, and criminals have vast networks throughout the region and the nation which help them to hide from justice and facilitate the commission of additional crimes. As we continue to discover, crime in Oakland does not always stay in Oakland. Criminals move in and out of city borders, using their regional and national criminal associations and networks to avoid capture. With the resources of the United States Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Forces, we are uniquely positioned to be able to intercept these criminals and bring them to justice.”

“My office applauds the extraordinary work of the U.S. Marshals Service and all the other law enforcement agencies in removing these high-risk fugitives from our communities and keeping our cities safe,” U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said. “These people need to understand that no matter where they go, or how hard they try to hide, we will use the resources of the federal government to find them and hold them accountable for their actions.”

Among those arrested during the operation were the following individuals:

Alpacino McDaniels – DOB: 07/01/1985 - Charged with Murder – McDaniels was wanted for his role in a murder which took place on the 800 block of Meade Ave, in West Oakland, in 2013. McDaniels was located in Rancho Cordova, CA, by the US Marshals Task Force on June 17, 2014, and taken into custody without incident. McDaniels is alleged to have been associated with the “Meade Street Boys.”

Brian Infante – DOB: 01/05/1973 – Charge with Rape - Infante was wanted for rape by the San Francisco Police Department since early 2014. Infante was found and apprehended without incident in San Leandro, CA, by a team from the U.S. Marshals Northern District of California.

Julian Contreras – DOB: 04/18/1992 - Charged as a Parolee at Large and with Attempted Murder - Contreras was wanted by the Napa Police Department with attempted murder after an incident in 2014 where Contrares, along with several other individuals, allegedly robbed a home and accosted and individual inside. Contreras is alleged to have ties to the “Norteno” gang in Napa, CA. Contreras was located at a home in Sacramento, CA, by a team from the U.S. Marshals Service and taken into custody without incident.

Douglas Chenelle – DOB: 04/27/1942 - Charged with Sexual Battery – Chenelle was wanted by the Vallejo Police Department for an assault of a person in a wheelchair. Chanelle was a caregiver at a Vallejo facility which cared for mentally and physically disabled adults and children. Chanelle was located by Vallejo Police Detectives and U.S. Marshals on June 19, 2014, in Vallejo, and taken into custody without incident.

This operation was a joint effort, consisting of teams from the U.S. Marshals Eastern District and Northern Districts of California, the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the following agencies:

Fairfield Police Department
Vallejo Police Department
Solano County Sheriff’s Department
Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE)
California Highway Patrol
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF)
Sacramento County Probation
Stockton Police Department
California Department of Corrections
Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office
Oakland Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
San Jose Police Department
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office
Fremont Police Department
Long Beach Police Department
San Francisco Sheriff’s Office
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Santa Clara Co Specialized Enforcement Team (SCCSET)
The U.S. Marshals Service is the primary federal agency charged with conducting fugitive investigations throughout the United States. The U.S. Marshals Service regularly works in concert with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to seek out and arrest violent fugitives and sex offenders, and has established task forces throughout the nation to facilitate the apprehension of fugitives.

TREASURY TARGETS MAJOR METHAMPHETAMINE SUPPLY ROUTE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Major Methamphetamine Supply Route Targeted with Today’s Action

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated Ezio Benjamin Figueroa Vasquez and his son, Hassein Eduardo Figueroa Gomez, as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for their significant role in international narcotics trafficking, as well as 16 of their companies in Mexico and Panama. The Kingpin Act prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these individuals and entities, and it freezes any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction. 

Figueroa Vasquez and Figueroa Gomez lead an international precursor chemical trafficking organization responsible for the diversion and importation of multi-ton quantities of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine from Europe and sub-Saharan Africa into Mexico. The organization distributes these precursor materials to major Mexican drug trafficking organizations which manufacture methamphetamine in Mexico for ultimate distribution in the United States. 

“Working closely with the Government of Mexico, OFAC is today sanctioning two significant traffickers who for years circumvented Mexican drug control laws to import massive amounts of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine into Mexico,” said OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin. “Together with our colleagues in the U.S. and Mexican governments, we will continue to target the activities of these criminals and other precursor chemical networks.”

On November 2, 2011, Figueroa Vasquez and Figueroa Gomez were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia. They are accused of conspiring to commit money laundering in connection with their alleged precursor chemical trafficking. The indictment was unsealed on April 11, 2012.

In September 2011, Mexican authorities arrested Figueroa Vasquez, and he remains in Mexican custody today. The 16 companies designated today in Mexico and Panama range in business activities from real estate and construction to pharmaceutical activity. Among these companies are Mexico City-based pharmaceutical companies Geofarma, S.A. de C.V. and Distribuidora Medica Hospitalaria, S.A. de C.V. as well as Guadalajara-based construction and housing development companies Promociones Citadel, S.A. de C.V. and Desarrollo Arquitectonico Fortia, S.A. de C.V.

Today's action would not have been possible without key support from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. The Government of Belgium also assisted OFAC in this action. This cooperation is part of a global effort to interdict Mexican drug trafficking organizations’ access to materials needed for the illicit production of methamphetamine.

“This organization for years served as a major facilitator on behalf of some of the most violent, brutal Mexico-based drug networks in the world,” said DEA Chief of Financial Operations John Arvanitis. “The biggest cartels in the world rely on organizations like this one to secure huge amounts of precursor chemicals like ephedrine and pseudoephedrine to produce massive amounts of meth that ends up in communities across the United States. Using every tool at our disposal, such as this Treasury designation, will go a long way towards ensuring that this organization is dismantled.”

Pursuant to the Kingpin Act, the Treasury Department has designated more than 1,000 individuals and entities linked to drug kingpins since June 2000. Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1.075 million per violation to more severe criminal penalties. Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million. Other individuals face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.