Mexican authorities arrested Leobardo García Corrales, a Sinaloa Cartel operative involved in fentanyl trafficking and wanted by the United States.
“Leo,” as the drug trafficker is also known, was arrested in Mexico City (CDMX), according to Secretary of Citizen Security Omar García Harfuch, on Thursday morning.
Members of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) and the Navy (Semar) arrested Corrales. Federal authorities located him on Adolfo Ruiz Cortines Boulevard, in the Jardines de la Montaña neighborhood, in the Tlalpan municipality.
The National Registry of Arrests (RND) indicates that he was arrested on April 2. Leo was wearing a brown, black, and white checked shirt, as well as blue jeans and black shoes. He was also described as a man with a light brown complexion, a beard, a trimmed mustache, and graying hair.
García Harfuch emphasized Leobardo’s arrest because he was wanted by US authorities. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was offering a reward of up to $4 million for his capture.
According to DEA reports, Leo identifies himself as a “close associate” of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, co-founders of the Sinaloa Cartel who are already facing justice in the US for their drug trafficking activities.
On August 11, 2022, Leo held a meeting at a ranch in Sinaloa with other members of the criminal organization. During the meeting, the now-detained man confirmed his involvement in fentanyl trafficking.
He also offered to send fentanyl by mail to New York. Leo told his subordinates that the price per kilogram of the synthetic opioid was $15,000 (equivalent to almost 300,000 Mexican pesos).
According to DEA records, in 2022, Leo coordinated the sale of 10 kilograms of fentanyl that were delivered in California.
In connection with his criminal activities, in April 2023, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned an indictment against him. Authorities charged him with conspiracy to import fentanyl and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
Leo had a brother, Martín García Corrales, who was also part of the Sinaloa Cartel, for which the DEA was offering a $4 million reward.
In mid-August of last year, Martín’s death was announced. His body was found along with those of two other men in a dirt road in the municipality of Elota, Sinaloa.
Due to the charges he faces in the US, Leobardo is expected to be extradited to that country.
Source: infobae
