Victor Manuel Félix Félix, the godfather of one of drug lord El Chapo's children, was extradited to the United States from Mexico on Monday to face charges of money laundering and distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine for the kingpin's mighty Sinaloa cartel, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Also known as "El Señor," Félix Félix was nabbed in a years-long Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sting in which the agency enlisted an undercover agent to pick up and transport hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of cocaine he allegedly directed for the cartel.
Félix Félix is a close associate of El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman Loera, and his daughter is reportedly married to Guzman Loera's son.
The DEA started investigating Félix Félix in 2009, initially sending the undercover agent to Panama to pose as the leader of a cell capable of transporting cash and narcotics on private aircrafts, a justice department release said. The agent picked up bulk currency in 2010 and 2011 from across the United States and Canada to move to Mexico, according to extradition documents.
After earning the trust of the cartel, the agent traveled to Central America to meet with more powerful members of the Sinaloa. In 2010, the agent offered to transport roughly 5,500 pounds of cocaine from Ecuador to Mexico City and was paid $3.5 million for his services, according to the documents. DEA agents then traveled to Ecuador and set up a roadside checkpoint, stopping the truck and seizing the cocaine that was allegedly meant for Félix Félix.
Following the seizure, the agent told Félix Félix he could transport another load from Ecuador to Mexico City and received a $1 million cash payment for his services. The DEA and Mexican and Ecuadorian governments coordinated for a jet delivery of the cocaine to Mexico City and seized it after it was delivered to members of the Sinaloa cartel, according to extradition documents.
Félix Félix was arrested along with 18 associates and indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego in 2011, according to the Department of Justice.
He was flown to the United States on Monday and appeared before the court for the first time on Tuesday in arraignment proceedings.
Among his charges are distributing cocaine outside the United States, operating a continuing criminal enterprise and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
The extradition comes roughly a year after El Chapo was sent to the U.S. to face charges of money laundering, drug trafficking, kidnapping and conspiracy to murder.
El Chapo is currently being held in a New York prison, where his containment in a cold, always-lit cell is reportedly causing him to suffer from hallucinations, depression and paranoia.
Uncommon Knowledge
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