The Rise and "Fall" of the man who bought planes for the Sinaloa Cartel
It was late 2011, and Vicente Contreras Amezquita was on his way home, after a long day, at 41 years old, he had spent more then a decade in his business. He was originally from Sinaloa, moved to Tijuana as a youth, and began living and working in the United States in the early 2000's.
It was late afternoon, and there was likely traffic on the 5 South, the interstate that runs parallel to the 5 North, a traffic model of interstate commerce in Southern California. The product comes in through San Ysidro, and leaves on the 5 North. The money, the guns, the runners, head towards Tijuana on the 5 South.
Vicente had money, 96,000 in cash, in his trunk, in a cardboard box, and 5,000 on his person. The 5,000 was his commission. It had been picked up in Los Angeles, earlier that day. Amezquita's phones, he had multiple, were being intercepted by federal agents at this point, as well as those of his closest associates. He was being watched, as he drove, as he worked, as he lived.
They pulled him over for a traffic violation, and he called his wife, Elizabeth Fregroso, indicted in July 2015 with Amezquita, and others. She remains a fugitive, as authorities allege she was an active participant in the complex money laundering scheme, of which her husband was the lead defendant. She cursed when he told her an hour later the money had been seized, and that the police had brought in drug dogs to examine the U.S currency stuffed in a box, in his trunk.