Overview

• A federal judge in Hermosillo formally opened criminal proceedings against Juan Pablo Vargas Báez, known as “El Chuki,” on organized-crime counts for weapons trafficking and fabrication.
• Prosecutors say he worked as a pilot for the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, facilitating clandestine transfers of firearms and components from Arizona into Mexico.
• He was captured days earlier in Badiraguato, Sinaloa, during a coordinated operation by the Army, Navy, National Guard, SSPC and the FGR.
• The court imposed preventive detention at Cefereso No. 11 in Sonora and authorized a three‑month complementary investigation period for the FGR.
• Officials indicate his case is part of the same criminal cause as 12 high‑level Sinaloa targets, including Ovidio Guzmán López, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Julio César Chávez Jr.