Sinaloa Cartel Drug Transporter Pleads Guilty: Juan Hernandez Ochoa Admits Smuggling Methamphetamine and Marijuana Into the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 20 that Juan Hernandez Ochoa, 51, of Mexico, pleaded guilty that day to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana for unlawful importation into the United States.
According to court documents, Hernandez Ochoa worked from 2015 to 2017 as a distributor and transporter for various drug traffickers affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel. He employed a network of associates to move drugs from Mexican border towns into the United States using private planes, human couriers, tunnels, semi-trailer trucks and vehicles with hidden compartments. He admitted moving hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana, and coordinating the transport of cash used to buy drugs and its repatriation from the United States after their sale.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division called the plea another major blow to the Sinaloa Cartel and said law enforcement will not stop until the cartels are dismantled. The Justice Department said the case is tied to the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by President Trump.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 冰毒样品（资料图）/ Methamphetamine sample (file photo). U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
