Yesterday, Jorge Ivan Gastelum Avila, also known as Cholo Ivan, made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to face international drug trafficking and firearms charges. Court documents reveal that from August 2009 to January 2016, Gastelum Avila, a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, was involved in the manufacture, distribution, and importation of ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, and Honduras to Mexico and the U.S.
Gastelum Avila is accused of being a lead sicario, or assassin, for the Sinaloa Cartel and working closely with Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo. He allegedly operated as the “plaza boss” for the Mexican city of Guamúchil, Sinaloa, and supervised at least 200 armed men, controlling the drug-trafficking activities in that city and the surrounding area.
Mexican authorities arrested Gastelum Avila and Guzman Loera together in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, in January 2016. After a grand jury returned an indictment against Gastelum Avila in December 2018, the United States requested his provisional arrest in February 2020, and Mexican authorities arrested Gastelum Avila based on that request in March 2020. Gastelum Avila was subsequently extradited from Mexico to the United States on April 1.
Gastelum Avila faces charges 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. He is also charged with knowingly and intentionally using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm, including a destructive device, during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. If convicted, Gastelum Avila faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the drug conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 30 years for the firearms offense.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) supports this case. The HSI Nogales Office and the FBI Washington Field Office are investigating this case. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting Executive Associate Director Steve K. Francis of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office made the announcement. Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section is prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance with securing the arrest and extradition of Gastelum Avila. The Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations also provided significant assistance.
Joaquin Guzman Loera was extradited to the United States in January 2017 and sentenced to life in prison in July 2019 for being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise, narcotics trafficking, using a firearm in furtherance of his drug crimes, and participating in a money laundering conspiracy.
Image Credits
In-Article Image Credits
Logo of the Mexican criminal organization Sinaloa Cartel Cartel de Sinaloa via Wikimedia Commons with usage type - Public Domain. January 20, 2020Featured Image Credit
Logo of the Mexican criminal organization Sinaloa Cartel Cartel de Sinaloa via Wikimedia Commons with usage type - Public Domain. January 20, 2020
