A top Sinaloa Cartel enforcer will spend the rest of his life in a U.S. prison for his role in helping the organization trade more than $1 billion in cocaine for weapons to support turf wars at the U.S.-Mexico Border.
During a court hearing late last week, 50-year-old Arturo Shows “Chou” Urquidi was sentenced to a life term, court documents revealed. A federal jury in El Paso convicted Urquidi on drug, money laundering, and weapons conspiracy charges in October 2021.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that Urquidi was a Chihuahua State Police officer before becoming a member of the Sinaloa Cartel. During his time in the drug trade, he worked with kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and is one of dozens listed in the indictment filed against Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
According to prosecutors, Urquidi worked as an enforcer for Sergio “Coma” Garduno Escobedo, who was a state police commander and regional boss for the cartel in Juarez. As part of his job, Urquidi helped run security for stash houses used to transfer cocaine and weapons shipments. In the same trial where jurors convicted Urquidi, they also convicted 36-year-old Mario “El 2 or Grim Reaper” Iglesias Villegas for organized crime charges including conspiracy to kill in a foreign country and kidnapping. He is expected to be sentenced on March 24.