According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Tijuana cartel, also known as the Fernando Sanchez Organization (FSO), is “an offshoot of the Arellano-Felix drug-trafficking cartel” from Tijuana, Mexico.
Quinonez was also charged with being “involved in making arrangements to have various rivals of the FSO arrested and detained by Mexican law enforcement officials,” the DEA stated.
Charges filed against a total of 43 defendants included “murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, drug trafficking and money laundering offenses.” Four defendants in the case are still at large. According to the U.S. Assistant Attorney James Melendres, about half of the defendants in the case are US citizens.
Corruption among law enforcement and government officials is rampant in Mexico, making the job of the anti-drug agencies harder. Drug cartels are often able to bribe authorities, both at the local and the federal levels. Because of this situation, the US authorities are weary of corruption among the officials they work with.
“Any time we work with other countries, security is a concern,” U.S. Assistant Attorney Todd Robinson said. “We continue to hope and believe Quinonez was an isolated incident of someone being corrupted by organized crime.”
Quinonez sentencing is scheduled for August 6.
