The Justice Department on Thursday announced charges against five top leaders and members of a cartel they described as a growing force in the Mexican drug trade, the latest step in the Trump administration’s push to target transnational criminal gangs.
Officials described United Cartels, an organization based in the western Mexican state of Michoacán, as one of the “most prolific” methamphetamine producers in the country. Despite its lower profile compared with other drug cartels, they said, the group has been producing multiple tons of illegal goods every month that are then distributed to US cities like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The organization’s top leader — Juan José Farías Álvarez, also known as “El Abuelo” — is charged with crimes such as conspiracy to manufacture and distribute drugs, including methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, according to an indictment filed in federal court in Tennessee. Authorities are offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest, along with separate multimillion-dollar rewards for four other leaders charged in the case. All five are believed to be in Mexico, senior Justice Department officials said.
Separately, on Thursday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against the group and a subsidiary Mexican cartel known as Los Viagras, as well as seven connected individuals, freezing their assets in the United States.
“Today’s charges are designed to dismantle the United Cartels and bring their leaders to justice for unleashing death and destruction on American citizens,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
The Trump administration has vowed to eradicate powerful drug cartels that have controlled parts of Mexico.
The Washington Post has reported that US officials are weighing plans to use military force to target cartel leaders and infrastructure, including potentially launching missiles into Mexico. In recent months, Mexico has shown increased willingness to cooperate with its northern neighbor on broader efforts to combat cartels.
On Tuesday, the Mexican government expelled 26 drug cartel figures in its custody, transferring them to face charges in the United States. Mexico sent 29 others in February, including Rafael Caro Quintero, a drug lord wanted for the killing of a US Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985.
United Cartels, an umbrella organization composed of several smaller outfits, was one of eight organizations the Trump administration designated as foreign terrorist organizations in January, freeing up resources and additional tactics to target top leaders.
The case against the United Cartels leaders announced Thursday began with a 2019 car crash outside Knoxville, when two alleged dealers fleeing the scene of the wreck threw a case filled with meth behind a building before being apprehended by police, according to court filings.
Investigators said they eventually traced those drugs to what a senior Justice Department official described as a cartel operative based in Atlanta. Attempts by authorities to track that man’s movements prompted a shootout in Tennessee in early 2020 that left one officer injured. The man is believed to have fled back to Mexico shortly afterward, but evidence recovered from their investigation of that incident eventually led back to the United Cartels, investigators said.
In addition to Farías Álvarez, the other cartel leaders named in Thursday’s indictments include Alfonso Fernández Magallón, also known as Poncho, and Nicolás Sierra Santana, also known as “El Gordo.” Two other defendants — Edgar Orozco Cabadas, also known as “El Kamoni,” and Luis Enrique Barragán Chavez, also known as “Wicho” — are also charged and accused of leading armed factions of the group that enforced the cartel’s control in Michoacán.