Mexico hands over "Don Angel", one of the world's most-wanted drug traffickers, to the U.S.
The formal indictment charges Chávez-Gastelum "Don Angel" with 12 crimes, including drug trafficking, drug importation, and money laundering.
Angel Humberto Chavez-Gastelum, ranked as one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers, was extradited to the United States on Friday. "Don Angel, 47, was handed over by Mexico to U.S. authorities to face federal charges for transporting tons of cocaine from South America.
Chavez-Gastelum was arrested in November 2018 in Queretaro for allegedly controlling a drug distribution network with supply routes that took cocaine from Colombia to Central America, then to Mexico, with a final destination of the United States. During the investigation, law enforcement authorities worldwide seized approximately 7,700 pounds of cocaine, worth approximately $500 million.
The indictment charges Chavez-Gastelum with 12 felonies, including drug trafficking, drug importation and money laundering. He is also charged with being the principal leader of a criminal enterprise, a crime that carries a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison.
He is also charged with two murders allegedly committed on July 7, 2017, in connection with the alleged criminal enterprise and drug-related offenses. The investigation in this case has resulted in the arrest of co-conspirators such as Colombian national Victor Hugo Cuellar-Silva, the alleged leader of the organization, who was captured and extradited to the United States in September 2018.
