A son and his father, both Mexicans, were indicted Friday on drug trafficking charges for allegedly leading a ring that sold drugs in Colorado and sent the proceeds to Mexico via California.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado said in a statement that Juan Demetrio Villalpando Jr., 36, known as Junior, organized and supervised the operation of "a continuing criminal enterprise."
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The organization, in which 20 other people worked, transferred the funds from the distribution of drugs to Juan Demetrio Villalpando Sr., 63 years old and resident of West Covina, California.
He was in charge of delivering them later to his son in Mexico, authorities said.
The prosecution alleges that the defendants allegedly participated in a conspiracy to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, more than 50 grams of real methamphetamine, 500 grams of a mixture of a substance containing methamphetamine and one kilogram of heroin.
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"This indictment is the result of an investigation by the Special Group to Combat Drugs and Organized Crime (OCDETF) [that] identifies, dismantles and dismantles high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten communities across the United States," he said.
In addition to Junior and his father, prosecutors charged 18 other men and four women with belonging to the drug trafficking network. The vast majority live in Colorado, but there are also residents in Nevada, California and Mexico.
US authorities have stepped up their fight against drugs and especially fentanyl, whose overdose deaths in the country have increased by 300% in the last seven years.
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In fact, they have warned that fentanyl is increasingly mixed with xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human consumption, or with marijuana.
In April, the Justice Department indicted 28 members of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, including the sons of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, in what is considered the largest legal action against fentanyl trafficking in the country's history.
Charges were filed against cartel leaders as well as alleged chemical suppliers, lab managers, fentanyl traffickers, security leaders, financiers and arms traffickers. Among them are three sons of Guzmán, known as the Chapitos: Ovidio Guzmán López (captured in January 2023 in Mexico), Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar.
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The latter was precisely included a few days later in the list of the most wanted criminals by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA, in English). He is El Chapo's favorite son and considered responsible for directing the organization's shipment of fentanyl to the United States.
