The United States Department of Justice announced criminal charges against five high-ranking members of the United Cartels, a designated U.S. terrorist organization. The charges were filed against Juan Jose Farias Alvarez (“El Abuelo), Alfonso Fernandez Magallon (“Poncho”), Luis Enrique Barragan Chavez (“Wicho / R5”), Edgar Orozco Cabadas (“El Kamoni”), and Nicolas Sierra Santana (“El Gordo”).
In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi said:
Today’s charges are designed to dismantle the United Cartels and bring their leaders to justice for unleashing death and destruction on American citizens. Working closely with our partners throughout President Trump’s Administration, we will continue our historic effort to destroy foreign terror organizations and prosecute terrorists wherever they may hide.
Director Derek W. Gordon, the Acting Executive Associate for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, said:
Today’s charges reflect the far-reaching impact of transnational criminal networks and the decisive action U.S. law enforcement is taking to dismantle them. The United Cartels are responsible for flooding our communities with dangerous narcotics and profiting through violence, extortion, and corruption. ICE HSI, in close coordination with domestic and international partners, led a years-long investigation that traced the cartel’s footprint from clandestine labs in Michoacán to major U.S. distribution hubs. This case underscores our commitment to holding cartel leaders accountable, wherever they operate and safeguarding public safety on both sides of the border.
The five defendants are accused of participating in a decades-long conspiracy to manufacture and trafficing of controlled substances, including methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl, with the intent to smuggle them into the United States. Additionally, Alvarez, Magallon, and Chavez have also carried, brandished, and discharged firearms, including semi-automatic weapons, machine guns, and other destructive devices related to their drug trafficking offenses.
If convicted, each faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
The five defendants are now fugitives, with the U.S. Department of State offering rewards of up to $10 million for Alvarez; $5 million each for Magallon and Santana; and $3 million each for Chavez and Cabadas, for information leading to their arrest or conviction. Concurrently, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has imposed economic sanctions on all five individuals, as well as on the United Cartels.
The court filings identify the United Cartels as a transnational criminal network controlling vast swaths of Michoacán, Mexico. They function as an umbrella cartel, consolidating multiple local cartels to produce, traffic, and smuggle drugs into the United States. Their revenue from the U.S. drug markets is funneled into heavy arms purchases, mercenary contracts, corrupting political officials, and the funding of opulent lifestyles of the cartel leadership.
The United Cartels ranks among the world’s most prolific methamphetamine producers, capable of churning out multiple tons of the lethal drug a month. Its distribution network stretches across the United States, with key hubs in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Kansas City, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago, and extends internationally to Europe, Australia, and beyond.