Cartel Leader Who Faked His Death Found Living In Luxury In RivCo: DOJ

RIVERSIDE, CA — A high-ranking cartel member who faked his own death and was living in luxury under a false identity in Riverside was arrested this week and faces international drug trafficking and money laundering charges, according to authorities.

Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa is a member of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and the son-in-law of the cartel’s leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho,” authorities said, adding Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested Tuesday.

“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,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a news release.

Gutierrez-Ochoa, 37, started working for the cartel around 2014, and coordinated the transportation and distribution of about 40,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine in Mexico, all bound for the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

He kidnapped two members of the Mexican Navy around November 2021 in an attempt to secure the release of El Mencho’s wife, who had been arrested by Mexican authorities, the department said. He then fled to the U.S., assumed a fake identity and lived in a luxury home in Riverside that was purchased by cartel money-laundering operatives with drug-trafficking proceeds, according to the department.

El Mencho may have assisted Gutierrez-Ochoa in the scheme to fake Gutierrez-Ochoa’s death by telling associates that El Mencho murdered Gutierrez-Ochoa for lying, authorities said, helping Gutierrez-Ochoa sneak into the U.S. to be with El Mencho’s daughter.

The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to El Mencho’s arrest and/or conviction, according to the justice department, which noted that he remains a fugitive.

Gutierrez-Ochoa is charged with conspiracy to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine and 500 grams of methamphetamine, knowing the drugs would be illegally imported to the U.S., authorities said. He is also charged with conspiracy to launder the cartel’s drug-trafficking proceeds, according to the department.

If convicted, Gutierrez-Ochoa faces 10 years to life in prison on the drug charge and up to 20 years in prison on the money laundering charge, authorities said.