A high-ranking member of a Mexican drug cartel who allegedly faked his own death and has been living in California under a fake name is now facing federal charges, the US Justice Department announced Thursday.
Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, a member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and the son-in-law of the cartel’s leader El Mencho, was on the run from Mexican authorities when he fled to the United States, assumed a fake identity and had moved into a luxury Riverside apartment when he was arrested earlier this month, according to prosecutors. The 37-year-old Gutierrez-Ochoa is charged with international drug trafficking and money laundering.
Prosecutors say that before he went into hiding, Gutierrez-Ochoa personally orchestrated the transportation and distribution of 40,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to the United States. He also allegedly kidnapped two members of the Mexican Navy as part of an attempt to release his mother-in-law, El Mencho’s wife, after her arrest by Mexican authorities.
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