Sinaloa Cartel Members Sentenced for Trafficking Fentanyl, Meth, and Coke

MIAMI – Seven members and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel have been sentenced to federal prison for their role in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine.

The sentences come after the defendants had previously pleaded guilty in this matter. The defendants were arrested in the United States and were part of a conspiracy to distribute the controlled substances from June 2022 through May 2023.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Drug Threat Assessment, the Sinaloa Cartel is at the heart of the fentanyl crisis. Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat the United States has ever faced, killing 38,000 Americans in the first six months of 2023 alone.

“When you consider the quantity of drugs being trafficked and the deleterious impact illicit narcotics have on our community, it is readily apparent that these defendants sold drugs for the sole purpose of profiting off a public health crisis – addiction,” stated U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida.

The defendants were sentenced as follows:

• Hector Alejandro Apodaca-Alvarez, 53, of Somerton, Arizona, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.
• Mark Anthony Roque Bustamante, 33, of Yuma, Arizona, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.
• Jorge Moreno, 28, of San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.
• Jonathan Nicholas Chavez, 25, of Brawley, California, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.
• Luis Tejada Velasquez, 37, of San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.
• Austin Toma Grupee, 43, of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.
• Jose Chavez Zaragoza, 38, of Yuma, Arizona, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.

The sentences reflect the deadly nature of the crimes committed by the defendants, who used the U.S. mail and their own trucking business to send tens of thousands of pressed fentanyl pills and kilogram-quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine to a buyer in the United States.

“Guns and drugs are often linked, particularly when it comes to the cartels,” said Director Steven Dettelbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “ATF is committed to working with all our partners to hold accountable those who spread poison in our streets and arm those who supply that poison.”

The investigation was a testament to the combined efforts of multiple Field Divisions of ATF in collaboration with federal, state, and local partners.

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