The Department of Justice announced on Thursday it brought criminal charges against five fugitives who are allegedly senior leaders of the United Cartels, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and involved in a massive drug distribution network.
DOJ Criminal Division head Matthew Galeotti said the indictments marked a "significant step" in the DOJ's mission to eradicate the organization and came as a result of "extraordinary policework."
"This investigation began in a small town in Middle America and led to clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Michoacán, Mexico. … This case demonstrates our relentless pursuit of cartel leaders who flood our communities with illegal drugs and terrorize citizens on both sides of the border with violence," Galeotti said in a statement.
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Senior DOJ officials detailed to reporters the law enforcement work that preceded the indictments.
"The really interesting part about this case is the investigation, how it unfolded, from a local town in Tennessee all the way to an international takedown, and we wanted to give you a little bit of detail about that," one of the officials said.
The case started as a regional hit-and-run incident involving two people in Rockwood, Tennessee, the official said. Police discovered the pair were methamphetamine dealers, and through investigative work, they were led to a vast narcotics distribution network in the Atlanta area, the official said. After a series of actions, including conducting surveillance outside a hotel, engaging in a high-speed shootout and executing search warrants in Georgia, they eventually discovered what totaled 950 kilograms of methamphetamine.
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Phones seized during that operation allowed investigators to make the connection to Michoacan.
"The key thing about this case is it actually quite well demonstrates the perils of what's going on and these high-level narco-terrorists abroad and the impacts that it has on our local communities and in our streets," the official said.
The shootout involved a man named Cody Seals, who was sentenced last year to 30 years in prison for conspiring to distribute illicit drugs and attempting to murder two Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers. One of the troopers was wounded in the leg, while Seals was shot in the head and survived. Police discovered more than one kilogram of methamphetamine in Seals' vehicle.
The Trump administration took a whole-of-government approach to addressing the United Cartels, the senior officials told reporters.
In addition to the indictments unveiled on Thursday, the Treasury Department announced economic sanctions against several of its alleged leaders and the State Department announced $26 million in rewards for information leading to the arrests of the five defendants, who remain at-large.
Those facing charges are Juan Jose Farias Alvarez, Alfonso Fernandez Magallon, Luis Enrique Barragan Chavez, Edgar Orozco Cabadas and Nicolas Sierra Santana.
The five men have allegedly been involved in a decades-long conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, including into the United States. They face drug trafficking and firearms charges that carry maximum penalties of life in prison.
"Today's charges are designed to dismantle the United Cartels and bring their leaders to justice for unleashing death and destruction on American citizens," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.
