CALIFORNIA
A federal court charged Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa — a high-ranking member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the son-in-law of the CJNG’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho — with international drug trafficking and money laundering offenses.
Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested in Riverside, California, on Tuesday.
“Defeating the two cartels responsible for the deadly drug crisis in the United States is the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA)’s top operational priority, and with the arrest of Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa, we are much closer,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
Adding, “We allege that Gutierrez-Ochoa, a high-ranking member of the CJNG and the son-in-law of El Mencho, conspired to import thousands of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States on behalf of the Jalisco Cartel. The Jalisco Cartel is responsible for unprecedented violence in Mexico and helping to fuel the deadly drug crisis in the United States. The DEA is relentlessly committed to defeating the Jalisco Cartel, and we will exhaust every tool in the justice system to fight back, to save American lives, and to bring this cartel to justice.”
According to court documents, 37-year-old Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly began working for the CJNG, one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels, around 2014.
He is accused of coordinating the transport and distribution of roughly 40,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine within Mexico, all destined for the United States.
Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly supported CJNG’s drug trafficking and money laundering operations through violence.
In November 2021, he reportedly kidnapped two Mexican Navy members to pressure authorities into releasing El Mencho’s wife, who had been arrested. After becoming a target of Mexican authorities, he fled to the U.S., assumed a fake identity, and lived in a luxury Riverside, California, home purchased with CJNG drug proceeds.
Court documents suggest El Mencho may have helped Gutierrez-Ochoa fake his death, spreading rumors that he had killed Gutierrez-Ochoa for betrayal.
This reportedly allowed Gutierrez-Ochoa to secretly enter the U.S. and join El Mencho’s daughter. In April 2022, the Justice Department issued a superseding indictment against El Mencho, accusing him of running a criminal enterprise to produce and distribute fentanyl for U.S. import.
El Mencho remains a fugitive, with a $10 million reward offered for information leading to his capture.
Gutierrez-Ochoa is charged with conspiring to distribute large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine, knowing they were intended for illegal importation into the U.S. He also faces charges for conspiring to launder CJNG’s drug proceeds.
If convicted of the charges, he faces up to life in prison.
The case is being investigated by the DEA Los Angeles Field Division.
Trial Attorneys Lernik Begian and Doug Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.