A high-ranking member of a Mexican drug cartel who allegedly faked his own death has been discovered living in California and now faces federal charges, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.
Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa had assumed a fake identity to evade Mexican law enforcement and had been living in a luxury apartment in Riverside, California when he was arrested earlier this week, according to prosecutors. The 37-year-old Gutierrez-Ochoa, who is the son-in-law of the cartel’s leader El Mencho, had been charged 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.
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