- Homero Guerra Moreno, a key methamphetamine supplier for the Jalisco Cartel, faces 27 years in US prison.
- Authorities estimate Moreno trafficked approximately 15,000 kilograms of methamphetamine over five years.
- The US also extradited Edgar Herrera Pardo, a leader of the Jalisco Cartel, from Tijuana.
Mexican citizen Homero Guerra Moreno, 48, was sentenced in the United States for distributing methamphetamine on behalf of the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG). Moreno, who was arrested in Panama, was found guilty of transporting and distributing hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine monthly from Mexico to the US between 2013 and 2018. This Wednesday, August 2, a 324-month prison sentence, just over 27 years, was handed down to Guerra Moreno.
Guerra Moreno’s role as a source of supply for various criminal organizations distributing the substance known as ice (methamphetamine) from Mexico to the United States was highlighted by authorities. “Authorities identified Guerra-Moreno as the source of supply for several drug trafficking organizations (…) Guerra-Moreno worked in partnership with the CJNG and personally recruited traffickers to transport methamphetamine to Laredo,” read the press report.
According to US authorities’ estimates, Guerra Moreno managed to traffic around 15,000 kilograms of methamphetamine for the criminal group led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, El Mencho. This group was labeled by US Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani as “a ruthless Mexican cartel.” This significant figure was reached over the course of the five years of Guerra Moreno’s operations.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas released this information in a statement from the US Department of Justice. The statement detailed that the investigations leading to the capture and conviction of Homero Guerra began in 2014. Guerra Moreno pleaded guilty on December 6, 2022, and, as he does not hold U.S. citizenship, he will likely be deported after his incarceration.
Guerra Moreno was arrested at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama on May 26, 2022, while en route to Mexico. The facts were made public through a publication by the U.S. Department of Justice. Guerra Moreno will remain in custody to be transferred to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), where his situation will be further defined.
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For years, Guerra Moreno managed to evade capture but was finally arrested and handed over to Texas authorities to face charges. U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani, commenting on the case, stated, “Today we struck a blow to the Mexican cartels. Guerra-Moreno trafficked drugs to local communities like Laredo, Texas, for years, trafficking about 15,000 kilograms of methamphetamine for the CJNG, a ruthless Mexican cartel.”
In other news, on Wednesday, July 2, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) reported the extradition to the United States of Edgar Herrera Pardo, one of the leaders of the CJNG in Tijuana, Baja California. Identified by the aliases El Caimán and/or El Cabo 8, Pardo was handed over at the Toluca International Airport.
Pardo is wanted by the Federal District Court for the Southern District of California for crimes against health and criminal association. He is identified by Mexican authorities as a person close to El Mencho. US authorities, on the other hand, identify him as one of the leaders of a group called Los Cabos, which operates on the border and is related to the Four Letter Cartel.
A Southern District of California press release issued in June 2021 states: “Los Cabos allegedly employed rampant violence to ensure that the CJNG maintained the ability to traffic drugs through Tijuana, Mexico, and into the United States through San Diego. Los Cabos is allegedly responsible for planning more than 150 murders in Tijuana.”