A high-ranking Mexican drug lord living in California under a false identity was arrested this week on drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges, almost a year after faking his own death. According to U.S.
authorities , Cristian Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa, aka “El Guacho,” arranged to ship 40 metric tons of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine to the United States for the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG). Gutiérrez Ochoa, 37, is the son-in-law of CJNG boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka “El Mencho”. Late last year, he went missing, allegedly murdered for lying to his father-in-law.
At the time, the suspect was wanted by Mexican authorities on charges of kidnapping two members of the Mexican Navy in November 2021. The kidnapping was allegedly carried out to secure the release of his mother-in-law (El Mencho’s wife) who had been arrested on drug-related charges. Around the same time, the Los Angeles Times reported, a tequila manufacturing company paid US $1.
2 million in cash for a luxury residence in Riverside, southeast of Los Angeles. According to an affidavit from a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, the purchase was deemed suspicious and the previous owner of the home said she believed the buyers were drug dealers from Mexico. After further investigation , the DEA determined that the tequila company was likely a money-laundering front, prompting them to look closer at the man identified as Luis Miguel Martínez.
In October, U.S. aut.