A high-ranking Mexican cartel leader who faked his own death to “live a life of luxury” in California has been arrested and charged with drug trafficking, US officials said Thursday.

Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested Tuesday in Riverside, California, the Department of Justice announced in a statement.

Gutierrez-Ochoa is his son-in-law Nemesio Oseguera-Cervantes58 years old, also known as “El Mencho”, the leader The Jalisco New Generation cartelwhich officials described as “one of the most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations in the world.”

Nicole Argentieri, a senior Justice Department official, said Gutierrez-Ochoa “allegedly directed the importation of tons of methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States and engaged in violence to aid the cartel’s criminal activities.”

Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Gutierrez-Ochoa “allegedly faked her own death and assumed a false identity to evade justice and live a life of luxury in California.”

According to court documents, Gutierrez-Ochoa began working for the Jalisco cartel in 2014 and coordinated the shipment of 40,000 kilograms (88,000 pounds) of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to the United States.

In 2021, he allegedly kidnapped two members of the Mexican navy in an attempt to secure the release of Oseguera-Cervantes’ wife, who had been arrested by Mexican authorities.

Oseguera-Cervantes, the founder of the Jalisco cartel, has also been indicted in the United States, and the State Department has offered a $10 million reward for his capture.

In December 2022, the Mexican military captured Antonio Oseguerabrother of “El Mencho”. He allegedly oversaw violent actions and logistics and bought weapons and laundered money for the Jalisco cartel. The US Treasury Department listed Antonio Oseguera’s alias as “El Tony Montana,” an apparent reference to the fictional protagonist of the 1983 gangster film “Scarface.”

The Jalisco cartel is better known for producing millions of doses of the deadly fentanyl and smuggling them into the United States, disguised to look like Xanax, Percocet or oxycodone. Such pills cause approx 70,000 overdose deaths per year in the United States.

“Defeating the two cartels responsible for the deadly drug crisis in the United States is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) top operational priority, and with the arrest of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, we are that much closer,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram . said in a statement Thursday.

Earlier this year, the US sanctions imposed on a group of Mexican accountants and firms allegedly linked to a limited duration fraud ring led by the Jalisco cartel in a multi-million dollar scheme targeting Americans.

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