Feds Arrest Mexican Cartel Leader Who Faked Own Death to ‘Live a Life of Luxury’ in California

The Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 14, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

A high-ranking Mexican cartel member who faked his own death to “live a life of luxury” in southern California has been arrested and charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, the Justice Department said.

Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, 37, was arrested on Nov. 19 in Riverside, California. He is the son-in-law of Nemesio Oseguera-Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

“The Jalisco Cartel—one of the world’s most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations—is weaker today because of the tenacious efforts of law enforcement to track down and arrest a cartel leader who allegedly faked his own death and assumed a false identity to evade justice and live a life of luxury in California,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly began working for the Jalisco Cartel in about 2014 and later married El Mencho’s daughter. His purported death in Mexico in December 2023—reported as a murder stemming from a lie to his father-in-law—was part of a scheme to flee to the United States and reunite with his wife, federal prosecutors said.

According to court documents, Gutierrez-Ochoa coordinated shipments of 40,000 kilograms (88,000 pounds) of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to the United States.

In 2021, Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly kidnapped two Mexican Navy service members to pressure Mexican authorities into releasing El Mencho’s wife, who had been arrested earlier that year. That kidnapping prompted the Mexican government to issue an Interpol “Red Notice” in 2022, marking him as a wanted individual worldwide.

If convicted as charged, Gutierrez-Ochoa faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to life in prison for drug trafficking and up to 20 years for money laundering.

Gutierrez-Ochoa’s arrest is the latest blow delivered by the U.S. and Mexican authorities against the Oseguera family and their drug empire, which became notorious for mass-producing and smuggling fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills, often disguised as prescription painkillers. Such pills cause about 70,000 overdose deaths each year in the United States.

In September, El Mencho’s son Rubén Oseguera, known as “El Menchito,” was convicted by a federal jury in Washington drug trafficking and weapon charges. His conviction included evidence of him ordering the shooting down of a Mexican military helicopter pursuing him and his father.

In December 2022, the Mexican army captured El Mencho’s brother, Antonio Oseguera. He served a prison sentence in the United States for heroin trafficking before being deported to Mexico, where he resumed the drug trade business, according to the Treasury Department.

Oseguera-Cervantes, the Jalisco Cartel founder, remains at large. The State Department has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the drug lord’s arrest.