A high-ranking Mexican cartel leader who faked his death to “live a life of luxury” in California has been arrested on charges of international drug trafficking and money laundering.

U.S authorities said Thursday, November 21 that they had arrested Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa — a high-ranking member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the son-in-law of the CJNG’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho — in Riverside, California, on November 19.

“The Jalisco Cartel — one of the world’s most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations — is weaker today because of the tenacious efforts of law enforcement to track down and arrest a cartel leader who allegedly faked his own death and assumed a false identity to evade justice and live a life of luxury in California,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As these charges allege, Gutierrez-Ochoa directed the trafficking of lethal narcotics, causing untold destruction in our communities. To those seeking to harm Americans and to profit from their pain, this arrest should serve as a reminder — we will find you and bring you to justice.”

The Justice Department alleges that over the last decade, Cristian Gutierrez-Ochoa, a close associate of CJNG’s top leader, directed the importation of tons of methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States and engaged in violence to aid the cartel’s criminal activities.

The Jalisco Cartel, authorities say, is responsible for unprecedented violence in Mexico and helping to fuel the deadly drug crisis in the United States. “The DEA is relentlessly committed to defeating the Jalisco Cartel, and we will exhaust every tool in the justice system to fight back, to save American lives, and to bring this cartel to justice.”

According to court documents, Gutierrez-Ochoa, 37, is alleged to have started working for the CJNG in around 2014 and to have personally coordinated the transportation and distribution of approximately 40,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and approximately 2,000 kilograms of cocaine in Mexico, all destined for the United States.

In November 2021, US authorities say that Gutierrez-Ochoa kidnapped two members of the Mexican Navy in an attempt to secure the release of El Mencho’s wife, who had been arrested by Mexican authorities.

After being sought by Mexican authorities, Gutierrez-Ochoa allegedly fled into the United States, assumed a fictitious identity, and resided in a luxury residence in Riverside, California, purchased by CJNG’s money laundering operatives with drug trafficking proceeds.