A leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was sentenced on Thursday June 30 in a federal court in Texas to more than 23 years in prison for directing operations to distribute drugs in at least four US states, reported the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Juan Manuel Salazar Álvarez, 29 years old and a native of Michoacán, Mexico, pleaded guilty last November to various charges related to “operations to large-scale cartel” directed from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas to smuggle and distribute methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl, the DOJ explained in a statement.
Federal Judge Diana Saldaña sentenced Salazar to 282 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay a $2.7 million fine.
Salazar’s name was linked to at least 16 seizures of drug shipments between July 2017 and September 2019.
“The drugs were sent from Mexico to Laredo “
The investigation, which began in June 2017, managed to identify Salazar as the leader of the operation who coordinated the smuggling of narcotics concealed in fire extinguishers, blocks of wood, car batteries, and hydraulic jacks.
Drugs were often shipped from Mexico to Laredo, Texas, where they were hidden for later distribution in other cities in Texas and other states such as Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina, detailed the DOJ.
Salazar is the last sentenced of a group of 11 people detained and accused as a result of the investigation. Most of the members of the group of defendants are Mexican.
Since Salazar is not a US citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings after he completes his sentence, the DOJ warned.
You may be interested in:
Member of the CJNG details how cartel leaders lead future hit men to cannibalism: “They start by learning how to cut limbs”
The Mexican Army captured the alleged operator of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel