Mexican Cartel Members Arrested and Charged in Houston for Drug Trafficking; Police Say 41 Nabbed

Houston, TX: The United States Attorney’s Office has associated a large Mexican cartel with as many as fifty indictments about a drug trafficking ring operating out of Galveston and Houston.
Prosecutors stated Monday that 41 individuals have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute narcotics, including cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, and meth.
According to the accusation, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel controlled all forty-one of the defendants.
“The Jalisco New Generation Cartel casts a dark shadow that extends far beyond the borders of a single nation and into the streets and communities like Houston and beyond,” Alamdar S. Hamdani, United States Attorney, said.
From December 28, 2018, to April 22, 2020, the suspects are alleged to have operated the big operation out of the Houston area, according to investigators.
The 52-year-old alleged ring leader, Roque Zamudio-Mendoza, is one of 16 individuals that federal agents and the Houston Police Department are still searching for, even though 23 were arrested and others were charged.

“Some of (the fugitives) are from Houston,” Hamdani stated during Monday’s press briefing. The JNGC is not limited to the states of Michoacan and Jalisco alone. Location: Houston. Houston is where its people are. Its members are dispersed around the nation. Our primary point is that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is actual, physical, and present-day. They’ve made it to Houston’s streets. They are a part of our neighborhoods.
Luis Avalos-Alcantar, Jorge Valdovinos-Hernandez, Juan Moreno-Lopez, Angel Garcia-Saldivar, and Antolin Ramirez-Ramirez are among the wanted men linked to Houston mentioned in the indictment. On top of millions in fines, each of them faces the possibility of a life sentence for drug-related or money-laundering offenses.
Zamudio-Mendoza was reportedly the primary narcotics supplier to the United States, according to authorities. From there, co-conspirators allegedly dispersed the drugs to cities such as Pensacola, Atlanta, Nashville, and Chicago.
According to Hamdani, twenty individuals were apprehended, adding to the three suspects who were previously detained. Two of the detainees had passed away since their arrest.
“A message to any cartel or any organized criminal activity: ‘We stand strong here, and we continue to stand strong,'” said Troy Finner, chief of the Houston Police Department, while praising the several agencies that were involved in the five-year operation.
Any illicit gains from the alleged offenses, estimated at $10 million, are also sought to be forfeited in the indictment, which was returned on December 14, 2023.
Approximately 550 kg of meth, 249 kg of cocaine, 34 kg of heroin, 5 kg of pentobarbital, and 22,600 tablets laced with fentanyl were confiscated, according to Hamdani, as of Monday.
An arrest warrant was issued after a car check in Porter resulted in the seizure of many guns, Rolex watches, and huge sums of US currency, including $190,000.
On April 2 at 10 a.m. in Galveston or Houston, and on April 3 at either 11 a.m. or 2 p.m., some of the accused are scheduled to make an appearance in federal court.