A high-ranking member of the notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel is in US custody after being extradited from Mexico last week.
Juan Abouzaid was allegedly in charge of coordinating drug shipments and laundering money for the transnational criminal organization, according to the Treasury Department.
The 52-year-old man was handed over to US federal authorities in Mexico City on April 26 and is scheduled to appear in the District Court for the District of Columbia on May 17.
Abouzaid, also known as ‘El Escorpión’, was arrested on March 9, 2021 in Zapopan, a city in the western state of Jalisco.
Juan Abouzaid was extradited from Mexico to the United States on April 26. He faces drug and money laundering charges in the District Court of the District of Columbia.
His arrest came just six days after the Treasury Department sanctioned him under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act for his ties to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, which trafficked fentanyl and other drugs into the United States, including Los Angels.
Abouzaid was first linked to the cartel after the Justice Department named him in a federal indictment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in October 2018.
At the time, the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division alleged that around 2012, he conspired to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine and knew and intended to import the drugs into the United States.
The Mexican government blocked his bank accounts in June 2020 due to his link to the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, considered by criminal analysts to be one of the two most powerful criminal organizations in the country along with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel has a presence in 23 Mexican states.
The United States is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of cartel leader Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury accused Juan Manuel Abouzaid last Wednesday of coordinating the shipment of drugs and laundering money for the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel.
Juan Abouzaid, alleged high-ranking leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury under the Kingpin Act on March 21. The Department of Justice accuses him of coordinating the shipment of drugs and laundering money for the Jalisco Cartel. New Generation Cartel
Rubén ‘El Mencho’ Oseguera is the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal groups in Mexico. The United States government is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
Abouzaid’s extradition followed the April 21 arrest of El Mecho’s brother, Abraham ‘Don Rodo’ Oseguera in the city of Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco.
However, his release was surprisingly announced by Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s daily press conference on Tuesday.
The federal judge of the State of Mexico, Rogelio León, ruled that there was no legal basis to charge him or keep him in prison.
Rodríguez questioned León’s decision and said that he went to the Supreme Court of Justice but did not annul the judge’s decision.
He added that US authorities had requested information about pending legal proceedings or complaints against Oseguera as part of a binational collaboration in the fight against drug and arms trafficking, but this had not been provided.
“This is a state matter that could seriously affect the prestige of Mexico’s institutions,” said Rodríguez.
