The U.S. Justice Department
released the below information:
Alfredo Beltran Leyva, also
known as Mochomo, one of the leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a
Mexican drug-trafficking cartel responsible for importing multi-ton quantities
of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States, was sentenced today to
life in prison for his participation in an international narcotics trafficking
conspiracy.
Acting Assistant Attorney
General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division,
Assitant Director Stephen E. Richardson of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative
Division, Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt of the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) New York Division and Executive Associate Director Peter T. Edge of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
made the announcement.
“For well over a decade, the
defendant commanded a major Mexican drug trafficking organization that imported
ton-quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States and led a
campaign of violence and fear that gripped communities across North America,”
said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. “Through close cooperation with
our foreign counterparts, the United States brought this international
drug-trafficker to justice, significantly disrupted the flow of narcotics into
the United States and stemmed the tide of destruction wrought by this violent
cartel.”
“Alfredo Beltran Leyva spent
decades at the head of a criminal organization responsible for trafficking
large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine into the U.S.,” said Assistant
Director Richardson. “Today’s sentencing marks an end to Alfredo Beltran Leyva's
reign of terror, and demonstrates that the FBI and our law enforcement partners
around the globe will aggressively pursue and bring justice to those
individuals who use violence and intimidation to threaten our communities.”
“Alfredo Beltran Leyva is one
of the ‘Goliaths’ of Mexican drug traffickers known for his savage business
tactics and responsible for flooding the United States with illegal drugs,”
said Special Agent in Charge Hunt. “This sentencing exemplifies law
enforcement’s commitment to bringing justice to the victims of drug abuse
through successful prosecutions of the highest echelon of drug traffickers.”
“Today’s sentencing dealt a
major blow to the Beltran Leyva Organization by taking out one of its leaders.
It is with tireless joint enforcement efforts like this one that we can remove
drugs from America’s streets and make our communities that much safer,” said
HSI Executive Associate Director Edge. “HSI and our law enforcement partners,
both in the United States and around the world, will not waver in our resolve
to dismantle and cripple violent drug organizations, and remove their
leadership.”
Beltran Leyva, 46, was
indicted on Aug. 24, 2012, for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and
methamphetamine for importation into the United States. The defendant was
extradited from Mexico to the United States on Nov. 15, 2014, and pleaded
guilty on Feb. 23, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon of the
District of Columbia. Judge Leon imposed today’s sentence and ordered Beltran Leyva
to forfeit $529,200,000.
In court, Beltran Leyva
admitted that he was part of a conspiracy to import large quantities of drugs
into the United States. At his plea hearing and during pre-trial conferences,
the government proffered evidence that from the early 1990s until his
indictment in August 2014, the defendant was a leader of the Beltran Leyva
Organization, a global criminal enterprise responsible for importing multi-ton
quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States. Beltran Leyva
admitted that he and his organization obtained tonnage quantities of cocaine
from South American suppliers, which the defendant and his organization helped
finance and which were transported to Mexico via air, land and sea. Once the
cocaine reached Mexico, the defendant’s organization transported it to key
points in Mexico, including Culiacan, Sinaloa, which was also the central point
for the collection of billions of dollars from drug trafficking proceeds in the
United States. At sentencing, the government’s evidence showed that the
organization used weapons and carried out acts of violence, including murders,
kidnappings, tortures and violent collections of drug debts, in order to
sustain the drug importation operation.
On May 30, 2008, the United
States added the Beltran Leyva Organization to the Department of Treasury’s
Office of Foreign Asset Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked
Persons list, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. On
Aug. 20, 2009, the United States specifically designated Beltran Leyva as a
specially-designated drug trafficker under the same act.
The FBI’s El Paso, Texas,
Division led the investigation in partnership with the DEA’s New York Division
and HSI’s Special Agent in Charge, New York office as part of the Organized
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Acting Deputy Chief Amanda Liskamm and Trial
Attorney Adrian Rosales of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs
Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marcia M. Henry and Andrea Goldbarg of the
Eastern District of New York prosecuted the case. The Criminal Division’s
Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance in the case.
