Chapitos Operator "El Gordo" Faces US Court for Fentanyl Trafficking

"El Lic" for Borderland Beat

The following is a translation of an article by Zeta Tijuana 

Luis Felipe López Zamora, alias "El Gordo" - the alleged operator of "Los Chapitos" appeared on April 19, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento on charges of trafficking in fentanyl pills, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as money laundering.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement on April 23, 2024 that he is facing: 

“charges of trafficking in fentanyl pills, cocaine and methamphetamine, and money laundering, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.”

On March 3, 2022, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against "El Gordo", a 28-year-old native of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, and 13 co-defendants, charging them with trafficking fentanyl pills, cocaine, methamphetamine and money laundering, the DOJ stated.

Since 2019, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has identified "El Gordo" as a member of a trafficking group headed by his brother José Guadalupe López Zamora, who distributed "Los Chapitos" drugs in Sacramento and other areas of California.

"From at least May 2019 through January 2021, this group was responsible for importing tens of thousands of counterfeit 'M-30' oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl from Mexico and distributing them in Northern California and elsewhere. The group also distributed cocaine and methamphetamine.”

"If convicted, Lopez Zamora faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment on each of the drug trafficking counts and a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment on the money laundering conspiracy count," the US DOJ said.

EL GORDO", OPERATOR OF "LOS CHAPITOS" EXTRADITED TO THE U.S.; HE WAS CAPTURED IN TIJUANA

From 2019 to 2021, Lopez Zamora belonged to the criminal group "Los Chapitos", in which he was in charge of collecting the profits from drug sales, for subsequent shipment to Mexico. This criminal organization trafficked different illicit substances to Sacramento, California, with the aim of distributing them.

"El Gordo" was arrested on 2 January this year in Tijuana, Baja California, by agents of the State Citizen Security Force, in coordination with the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL).

Following the efforts of the FGR, the Mexican government granted his transfer to the United States for processing. The handover took place at Mexico City's Benito Juárez International Airport (AICM), by elements of the FGR's Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) to US agents.

Due to wiretapping, the DEA located the now extradited man within this criminal cell that distributed large quantities of methamphetamines and oxycodone tablets, which contain fentanyl, according to the indictment from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

Source: Zeta Tijuana