Particle News: Mexico Extradites Sinaloa Cartel Operator ‘El Meño’ to the U.S.

Overview

On July 15, the FGR handed over Héctor Manuel “El Meño” Avendaño Ojeda to U.S. authorities at Mexico City International Airport for transfer to Washington, D.C.
He faces charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia including association delictuosa, contra la salud and money laundering.
The transfer ends a nine-year extradition process during which he was held at Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 “El Altiplano” following his 2016 arrest in Culiacán.
U.S. prosecutors allege he led a transnational cocaine network, receiving shipments from Colombian intermediaries by sea before overland transport into Mexico and the United States.
In 2011, the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned him and his brothers for laundering cartel proceeds through front companies in Baja California and Sinaloa.