(NewsNation) — The Justice Department has filed criminal charges against five high-ranking leaders of the Cárteles Unidos, or United Cartels, a drug trafficking organization based in Michoacán, Mexico.
Those charged include Juan Jose Farias Alvarez (“El Abuelo”); Alfonso Fernandez Magallon (“Poncho”); Luis Enrique Barragan Chavez (“Wicho / R5”); Edgar Orozco Cabadas (“El Kamoni”); and Nicolas Sierra Santana (“El Gordo”).
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the charges are part of a broader effort to dismantle cartel networks.
“Working closely with our partners throughout President Trump’s Administration, we will continue our historic effort to destroy foreign terror organizations and prosecute terrorists wherever they may hide,” she said.
Court records describe the United Cartels as one of the world’s largest methamphetamine producers, “capable of manufacturing multiple tons every month.” The group also traffics cocaine and fentanyl, with operations stretching across the U.S., including Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as markets in Europe and Australia.
Farias Alvarez is accused of leading the organization, overseeing large cocaine shipments from Colombia and taxing meth and fentanyl producers in his territory, according to court records. Other defendants allegedly controlled armed factions or allied cartels in Michoacán, using assault weapons, drones, armored vehicles, and foreign mercenaries to enforce cartel control.
Prosecutors allege the five men engaged in decades-long conspiracies to “manufacture and distribute” methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl into the U.S. Some are also accused of using machine guns and other heavy weapons in connection with crimes. If convicted, they face maximum life sentences.
All five remain at large. The State Department has announced multimillion-dollar rewards for their capture, including up to $10 million for Farias Alvarez and up to $5 million each for Fernandez Magallon and Sierra Santana. Up to $3 million each is being offered for the arrests of Barragan Chavez and Orozco Cabadas.
The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on the cartel leaders and their organizations. The indictments stem from an HSI-Knoxville investigation within the Homeland Security Task Force Region 18, created under a Trump administration executive order.
The investigation began years ago with a car accident involving two drug dealers in Tennessee — an incident that eventually unraveled into wiretaps, a shootout, and the discovery of a tractor-trailer packed with drugs, leading investigators back to cartel leadership in Mexico, according to the Associated Press.