Mexican cartel official arraigned in Chicago today

Washington Times:

A top Sinaloa Cartel lieutenant, accused of directing the assassinations of rivals as well as Mexican and U.S. government officials as part of a raging drug war that has claimed more than 8,000 lives, will be arraigned Tuesday in federal court in Chicago on charges of smuggling multiple tons of cocaine and heroin into this country.

Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, whose father has been identified as a Sinaloa Cartel boss and has been named as being among Mexicos most powerful drug kingpins, was brought to Chicago on Friday and described by U.S. authorities as "one of the most significant Mexican drug defendants" ever extradited to the United States.

Zambada-Niebla is accused of being part of a drug operation that smuggled more than 200 metric tons of cocaine, along with large quantities of heroin, into the United States between 1990 and December 2008, some of which was exchanged for weapons to use against government targets in the U.S. and Mexico. The indictment said the illicit drugs netted more than $5.8 billion in cash proceeds.

...

It is a family business in Mexico, but one that has bred a criminal insurgency against Mexico that spills over into the US. Much of the killing in Mexico has been fights over the distribution corridors into the US. Chicago would have been a significant market.

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