WASHINGTON D.C.
A Mexican national appeared in federal court Friday to face international cocaine and marijuana trafficking charges.
According to court documents, between 2000 and 2010, Eleazar Medina Rojas, aka Chelelo, 51, was a high-ranking member of the Zetas, an international drug trafficking organization allied with the Gulf Cartel.
Together, the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, known collectively as “The Company,” was a violent, transnational drug trafficking organization based in Mexico.
They were engaged in manufacturing, distributing, and importing ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana from Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, and elsewhere into the United States.
Medina Rojas was also the “plaza boss” for the city of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, controlling Zeta’s drug trafficking activities in that area.
In May 2013, a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned a fourth superseding indictment against Medina Rojas.
In December 2018, Mexican authorities arrested Medina Rojas pursuant to a provisional arrest requested by the United States.
Medina Rojas remained detained in Mexico pending his extradition. He was extradited from Mexico to the United States on July 6.
Medina Rojas is charged with one count of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana intending and knowing that those substances would be imported into the United States.
If convicted of the charges, he faces up to life in prison. Medina Rojas is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The DEA Houston Division is investigating the case with assistance from the DEA Mexico City Country Office.
Trial Attorneys Kirk Handrich and Janet Turnbull of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and extradition of Medina Rojas. The Office of Enforcement Operations also provided significant assistance.