El Chapo rival Vicente Carrillo Fuentes hit with new charges in Brooklyn

The reputed leader of the Juarez drug cartel in Mexico has been hit with fresh charges in Brooklyn, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday — and sources say they will now seek his extradition to the US.

Vicente Carrillo Fuentes — who was already facing decade-old drug trafficking charges in Brooklyn — has been charged with running a criminal enterprise, money laundering and gun and narcotics charges, U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue announced.

The Juarez outfit was once allied with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel — until Guzman had Carrillo Fuentes’ brother killed for failing to shake his hand, a witness testified during Guzman’s trial in Brooklyn last year.

From 1990 to 2014, Carrillo Fuentes — also known as “El Viceroy” — was responsible for importing and distributing “hundreds of tons” of cocaine in the US and had hitmen carry out hundreds of murders, kidnappings, torture sessions and other acts of violence, prosecutors allege.

Carrillo Fuentes allegedly stepped up as head of the cartel in 1997. The cartel made at least $10 million in proceeds from cocaine sales, prosecutors say.

He was nabbed by authorities in Mexico in October 2014 and he is still locked up there. A law enforcement source said prosecutors will now seek his extradition to the US.

“As alleged, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes was responsible for importing thousands of kilograms of poisonous cocaine into the United States, conspiring to murder his organization’s rivals and reaping tens of millions of dollars in drug trafficking profits,” said Donoghue said in a release.

“This indictment and our determination to bring him to justice demonstrates, once again, that if you are ruthless enough and dumb enough to run a Mexican drug cartel, we have an American jail cell waiting for you.”

During Guzman’s trial, a former Sinaloa underling took the stand and testified that, in 2004, Guzman ordered the murder of Carillo Fuentes’s brother, Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes, after he refused to press the flesh following a meeting.

“When [Rodolfo] left, Chapo gave him his hand and said, ‘See you later, friend,’ and Rodolfo just left him standing there with his hand extended,” Jesus “El Rey” Zambada told jurors in November.

Later in 2004, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes allegedly had Guzman’s little brother killed in retaliation — plunging the two cartels into an all-out turf war, Zambada testified.

This article was originally posted here