Five alleged members of a Sinaloa Cartel-linked money laundering network have been charged in federal indictments unsealed Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. The indictments, returned in September and October 2022, charge Alberto David Benguiat Jimenez, Israel Daniel Paez Vargas, Salvador Diaz Rodriguez, Christopher Ortega-Lomeli, and Christian Noe Amador Valenzuela with drug trafficking and financial crimes.
This investigation has already resulted in charges against 51 individuals and the seizure of more than $4.1 million, along with significant drug quantities, including 1,304 kilograms of methamphetamine, 34 kilograms of heroin, 11 kilograms of cocaine, and 14 kilograms of fentanyl. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Benguiat Jimenez, Paez Vargas, Diaz Rodriguez, and Amador Valenzuela, along with previously charged Enrique Dann Esparragoza Rosas, have been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
OFAC has identified these men as part of a network laundering drug proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel, a Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for smuggling fentanyl and other narcotics into the U.S. The men face severe penalties:
Paez Vargas, 45, faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison for drug trafficking, plus 20 years for money laundering.
Benguiat Jimenez, 43; Diaz Rodriguez, 39; Amador Valenzuela, 36; and Ortega-Lomeli, 38, are each charged with money laundering and face up to 20 years in prison.
Esparragoza Rosas, 39, is also facing extortion charges, each carrying up to 20 years.
To date, all defendants remain fugitives, and the investigation continues.
