A man who for years was one of the United States’ most wanted Mexican drug trafficking suspects was sentenced in San Diego Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison.
Victor Emilio Cazares Gastellum, 53, was also ordered to forfeit $10 million which he admitted represented proceeds from his drug distribution activities. Prior to sentencing, Cazares provided the government with a $150,000 check as a partial initial payment.
Cazares, also known as “El Licenciado,” was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego in 2007, along with 18 of his suspected lieutenants and foot soldiers.
Cazares’ organization shipped multi-ton quantities of drugs from Colombia and Venezuela through Central America to Mexico. The drugs were then smuggled across the Southwestern border, eventually making their way throughout the United States.
According to his plea agreement, Cazares admitted that he was the head of a large-scale Mexico-based drug distribution organization referred to as the “Cazares Organization.”
The Cazares Organization was a vertical drug trafficking organization responsible for purchasing and coordinating the importation and distribution of controlled substances from Mexico into the United States.
Cazares admitted that during the course of the conspiracy, he was responsible for distributing more than 990 pounds of cocaine within the Southern District of California.
The United States issued a provisional arrest warrant for Cazares following his indictment, and the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction. He was captured by Mexican authorities about five years later — on April 8, 2012 — at a highway checkpoint near Guadalajara.
Cazares was believed to be aligned with Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman, the former leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, which was one of the most notorious and violent drug trafficking organizations operating in Mexico.
The underlying indictments were announced in San Diego in 2007 by then- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The 22-month sting — code-named “Operation Imperial Emperor,” resulted in the nationwide arrests of 402 people suspected of working for the cartel, more than $45 million in cash and tons of cocaine, heroin and marijuana.
–City News Service
