Mexican drug cartel kingpin arrested in California living under a fake name

Government agents arrested a top Mexican drug cartel kingpin who was hiding out in California. Christian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa was living the high life in Riverside, CA in a luxury apartment. He had allegedly faked his own death and was living under a false name, the US Department of Justice announced Thursday, per the Associated Press.

Gutierrez-Ochoa was member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and the son-in-law of the cartel’s current boss, El Mencho. The fugitive was on the run from Mexican police when he illegally crossed the border, created a false identity and moved into a high-priced apartment building on his ill-gotten gains.

Federal authorities have charged him with international drug trafficking and money laundering.

“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 Thursday.

Before Gutierrez-Ochoa disappeared from sight, he was a major drug trafficker who was personally responsible for the shipping and dispensing 40,000 kg of methamphetamine and 2,000 kg of cocaine from Mexico to the United States. He was also allegedly the person responsible for the kidnapping of two Mexican Navy officers whom he attempted to use to leverage the release of his mother-in-law who had been arrested by Mexican police.

El Mencho is suspected of assisting Gutierrez-Ochoa in allegedly faking his death so that he could evade arrest. The cartel boss claimed that he had killed his son-in-law because he had lied to him. The plan gave Gutierrez the time and space he needed to flee to California, where his wife was located.

The Justice Department charged El Mencho in 2022 over his part in bringing massive quantities of fentanyl into the US. He remains at large and the State Department has a standing offer of a $10 million reward for his arrest and/or conviction.

The drug war at the southern border is more dangerous than ever. Sinaloa drug cartel gangsters have been authorized by their bosses to shoot and kill US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. There was always an unspoken agreement between the cartels and the border patrol that gangs wouldn’t use lethal force against US agents because they feared a massive retaliatory response from US security and police. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to seize the assets of cartels and use the money for restitution for US citizens hurt by criminal illegal immigrants.