Member of H-2 Mexican Drug Cartel Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for International Narcotics Distribution Conspiracy

 

Defendant Trafficked Heroin into the United States for Violent Mexican Drug Cartel

 AT the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Deovaldo Gutierrez Alfaro, also known as “Leoba,” was sentenced by United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon to 60 months’ imprisonment for his participation in a large-scale international narcotics distribution conspiracy.  The defendant was arrested in Nayarit, Mexico in March 2019 and extradited to the United States in November 2019.  Alfaro pleaded guilty in June 2021. 

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William D. Bodner, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Los Angeles Division (DEA), announced the sentence. 

“With today’s sentence, the defendant is held accountable for conspiring to smuggle large quantities of heroin and other dangerous drugs into the United States and for transmitting hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal drug proceeds between the United States and Mexico,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “This Office and its law enforcement partners are committed to dismantling international drug cartels and their distribution cells that fuel addiction and promote drug-related violence in our cities and local communities.” 

“Drug trafficking organizations continue to flood our communities with drugs and perpetuate the cycle of addiction that is causing unprecedented overdose deaths across the nation,” stated DEA Los Angeles Special Agent-in-Charge Bodner. “This case exemplifies the hard work and collaborative efforts utilizing domestic and international resources to effectively disrupt sophisticated criminal syndicates.”

According to court filings and facts presented during court proceedings, the defendant was a member of the H-2 Cartel, a violent Mexican drug trafficking organization based in Nayarit and Sinaloa, Mexico.  The H-2 Cartel had numerous drug distribution cells in the United States, including in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Ohio, Minnesota, North Carolina and New York.  The DEA estimates that between January 2013 and February 2017, the H-2 Cartel distributed on a monthly basis approximately 500 kilograms of heroin, 100 kilograms of cocaine, 200 kilograms of methamphetamine and 3,000 kilograms of marijuana into the United States and earned millions of dollars in illegal proceeds.  In furtherance of its drug trafficking operation, the H-2 Cartel used firearms and physical violence, including torture and dozens of homicides.

Between June 2013 and December 2016, the defendant conspired with the H-2 Cartel to smuggle large quantities of heroin from Mexico into the United States and distribute the heroin throughout the country, including in the Eastern District of New York.  The defendant also helped the Cartel move hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds from the United States back to Mexico.  In September 2015 and November 2016, law enforcement seized more than three kilograms of heroin in connection with two drug shipments that the defendant had coordinated.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics & Money Laundering Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Craig R. Heeren, Ryan C. Harris, and Andrew D. Wang are in charge of the prosecution.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing Alfaro’s arrest and extradition.