“El Meño” faces at least two charges of organized crime and cocaine trafficking in the Federal Court for the District of Columbia.
The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) announced that it has extradited Héctor Manuel Avendaño Ojeda, “El Meño,” the alleged operator of Ismael Zambada García, “El Mayo,” in the Sinaloa Cartel, to the United States to stand trial on various drug trafficking charges.
The kingpin faces at least two charges of organized crime and cocaine trafficking in the Federal Court for the District of Columbia. “El Meño” was handed over to U.S. authorities at Mexico City International Airport (AICM) for final transfer.
“In compliance with the Extradition Treaty signed between Mexico and the United States of America, the Attorney General’s Office has extradited to the government of that country a Mexican national, wanted by the Federal Court for the District of Columbia, for the crimes of criminal association and public health,” the Attorney General’s Office stated in a statement.
The Attorney General’s Office detailed that Héctor Manuel, along with his brother, were members of a criminal organization responsible for receiving cocaine shipments through Colombian intermediaries via vessels traveling in international waters. “Once they received the drugs, they transferred them to another member of the organization for land transport to various locations in Mexico and the United States,” it added.
Who is “El Meño,” the operator of “El Mayo” Zambada?
Héctor Manuel Avendaño Ojeda was arrested in 2016 in Culiacán, Sinaloa, and has been held in a federal prison ever since.
In 2011, the United States Department of the Treasury ordered the freezing of the assets of brothers Héctor Manuel, Martín, and Sergio Avendaño Ojeda, whom it identified as leaders of a network dedicated to money laundering and drug distribution for the Sinaloa Cartel.
Martín Guadencio Avendaño Ojeda, brother of “El Meño,” is identified as one of the Héctor Manuel Avendaño Ojedas.
The Avendaño family heads the criminal cell known as Fuerzas Especiales Avendaño, a group of violent hitmen with close ties to the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Source: ADN 40
