Mexican Army soldiers escort Alfredo "El Mochomo" Beltran Leyva in the Mexico City International Airport in 2008. Beltran Leyva on Wednesday was sentenced to life in prison on international drug-trafficking charges. File Photo by David de la Paz/EPA
April 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice said Mexican cartel leader Alfredo "El Mochomo" Beltran Leyva was sentenced to life in prison on charges related to trafficking tons of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States.
The Justice Department said Beltran Leyva, 46, admitted that he was part of a conspiracy to import drugs into the United States as a leader of the Beltran Leyva Cartel, also known as the Beltran Leyva Organization. Beltran Leyva is also ordered to forfeit $529 million.
"At sentencing, the government's evidence showed that the organization used weapons and carried out acts of violence, including murders, kidnappings, tortures and violent collections of drug debts in order to sustain the drug importation operation," the Justice Department said in a statement.
The Justice Department indicted Beltran Leyva on Aug. 24, 2012, for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States. He was extradited from Mexico to the United States on Nov. 15, 2014, and pleaded guilty on Feb. 23, 2016, in Washington, D.C.
Beltran Leyva admitted to obtaining tons of cocaine from South American suppliers, which the cartel then transported to Mexico via land, air and sea. Once the cocaine was in Mexico, the cartel would ship it to different parts of the country such as Culiacán and Sinaloa to ultimately transport the cocaine to the United States.
"Alfredo Beltran Leyva is one of the 'Goliaths' of Mexican drug traffickers known for his savage business tactics and responsible for flooding the United States with illegal drugs," Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt said in a statement. "This sentencing exemplifies law enforcement's commitment to bringing justice to the victims of drug abuse through successful prosecutions of the highest echelon of drug traffickers."
The Beltran Leyva Cartel was once allied with Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel. The Beltran Leyva Cartel blamed Guzmán for Alfredo "Mochomo" Beltran Leyva's arrest and a war between the cartels followed.
