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Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Víctor Zapién Venegas, Close Collaborator of 'El Mencho', Is Extradited to the US

"Morogris" for Borderland Beat

Víctor Zapién Venegas; eyes blurred by Mexican officials

On Monday, Mexican authorities extradited Víctor Zapién Venegas ("El Domingo"), a high-ranking member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), to the United States. He was wanted by U.S. officials for drug trafficking and money laundering. The transfer was done at the Toluca International Airport, where he was handed over to U.S. authorities.

El Domingo was a close collaborator of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes ("El Mencho"), the CJNG's leader. The accused was responsible for coordinating international drug trafficking shipments for the CJNG from Colombia, Peru and Mexico into the U.S., as mentioned in a 2016 indictment issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Indictment details
On 23 March 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California filed a superseding indictment against El Domingo and Hugo Rosalio Lugo Inda ("Wero"). They were charged with smuggling cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine into the U.S. from Colombia, Peru, Mexico and elsewhere. The names of the other defendants remain sealed.

In addition, they were charged with attempting to conceal the origins of their drug proceeds by engaging in money laundering. They were ordered to forfeit all earnings derived from the scheme and/or other assets to make up for the total sum.

The two defendants used multiple U.S. bank accounts to hide the proceeds earned in the scheme: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Northern Trust Bank, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, US Bank, Fifth Third Bank and First National Bank. 

Background: 2016 arrest
On 10 September 2016, El Domingo was arrested by the Mexican Army, the Federal Police and Mexico's Attorney General's Office (PGR) in Playas del Rosarito, Baja California. He was in the passenger seat of a vehicle that had six cocaine packages. Upon his arrest, El Domingo was sent to the state facilities of the PGR in Baja California for questioning. The identity of the driver was not released to the press.

Investigators confirmed that they were following his trace for several months and discovered he was hiding in Baja California. When they discovered he was in Playas de Rosarito, they proceeded to apprehend him in a swift operation. No shots were fired during his arrest. At the moment of his capture, El Domingo had an extradition request from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

With his extradition, U.S. authorities hope to build a stronger case against El Mencho, who is wanted in the U.S. for multiple outstanding drug charges. 

Note: Multiple sources were used for this report. For better readability, they were linked in the body paragraphs above. The indictment was retrieved from PACER and is displayed above.

8 comments:

  1. For those who doubt Mexico's president fighting narcos. Another fine example of the many extradited to the US. A revolving door being administered now than ever before.

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    Replies
    1. You call that fighting narcos, mostly they run out of bribe money and after they have killed countless victims...and you call that fighting narcos. Fighting narcos would be arresting them, not setting them free, killing them on the spot.

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    2. This is a joke right... Extraditing already arrested criminals isn’t “fighting the narcos.” On the contrary, AMLO has chosen to not directly confront the cartels for the “safety of the people.”

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    3. Just 1 of the many needed implementations in combating the drug war. Past incarceration individuals within their country continued their terror.
      Ordering military intervention to combat these criminals will only result with president Duartes human rights violations "The slaughtering of innocents".
      We have all read past posts of extrajudicial killings by militarization / municipal officials of those victims who were presumed innocent.
      Those who support military intervention are nowhere near the epicenter of of this issue.
      Quite sure your opinion would differ if a relative or family member was a statistic of such.

      Human rights records indicate Mexico's unfavorable ratings.

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    4. 😐...🤦🏽‍♂️,@9:16 let's allow these criminals to serve their terms in mexico and tried by the mexican justice system. After all, you and I both know how reliable Mexicos judicial system has proved itself to be in the past. 🙄

      Delete
  2. The noose is gradually tightening!

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1:37 the Expendables time is coming,
    but the Replacements are getting schooled and on their way.
    It is all about new management.

    ReplyDelete
  4. note that a grand jury was empaneled in 2015, already, at CJNG traffickers in Tijuana, this is slightly before it all went public. And this was not a local guy who flipped, he was sent up from Jalisco, is my understanding.

    ReplyDelete

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