ALIASES: “El Barbas,” “El Fantasma,” “Licenciado,” “Don Arturon”
DOB: September 27, 1961
POB: Sinaloa, Mexico
NATIONALITY: Mexican
CITIZENSHIP: Mexico
HEIGHT: 6 feet
WEIGHT: 190 pounds
HAIR COLOR: Black
EYE COLOR: Brown
The Sinaloa drug trafficking organization is considered one of the most powerful and violent criminal organizations currently operating in the Republic of Mexico, with distribution cells throughout the United States. Through a union of groups, the Sinaloa cartel became responsible for the manufacture, acquisition, storage, importation, and distribution of multi-ton quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana from Mexico into the United States, as well as the transportation of millions of dollars from the United States to Mexico.
Although originally a part of the Sinaloa cartel, Arturo Beltran-Leyva broke ties with the organization in 2008 and established the Arturo Beltran Leyva (ABL) drug trafficking organization with several other former Sinaloa cartel members. Today, the ABL is responsible for the procurement of arms and ammunitions from the United States in furtherance of their criminal enterprise and is responsible for the trafficking of illicit drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine. The ABL is also credited with rising rates of violence within Mexico, as they are reportedly responsible for kidnapping, torture, murder, and various other acts of violence against numerous men, women, and children in Mexico. The ABL’s enforcement arm, the Fuerzas Armadas de Arturo, is considered one of the most ruthless and brutal in the way they dispose of their enemies. The organization is connected with the assassinations of numerous Mexican law enforcement officials.
Marcos Arturo Beltran-Leyva, the leader of the ABL drug trafficking organization, was killed in a Government of Mexico operation intended to capture him in December 2009. Beltran-Leyva was said to be one of the most violent members of the organization. He commanded and directed the organization, oversaw its management, and deployed the organization’s enforcement operatives, the Fuerzas Armadas de Arturo. Beltran-Leyva was charged in a 2004 indictment in the District of Columbia. He was also indicted out of the Eastern District of New York and out of the Northern District of Illinois.