Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Miguel Baez “Javi” Guevara was sentenced to 28 years in prison for shipping heroin, meth, and cocaine to Alaska, where drug trafficking is on the rise. He evaded the U.S. government for 10 years before being deported from Mexico in 2021. Guevara recruited couriers in Alaska through fake social media personas and encrypted messaging platforms to smuggle drugs back to the state. Despite the challenges of reaching remote communities in Alaska, drug traffickers can charge higher prices and make larger profits. Guevara targeted Alaskan women as couriers, paying for their transportation with prepaid debit cards and then paying them with cash, heroin, and meth. Members of the cartel used coded language and pseudonyms to avoid detection by law enforcement. The cartel smuggled drugs into Alaska using various methods, including cars, mail, ferries, planes, and shipping containers. The influx of drugs has led to an increase in overdose deaths, particularly among Alaska Natives and American Indians. Guevara’s arrests disrupted a significant portion of the cartel’s operations, leading to the seizure of meth, heroin, and cocaine intended for Alaska. Despite claims of rehabilitation, Guevara was sentenced to 28 years in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking and violence, with his sentence running concurrently with a previous case in Arizona. The efforts of federal agents have been ongoing to disrupt the Sinaloa Cartel’s operations in the U.S., culminating in the historic imprisonment of El Chapo and subsequent arrests of other high-ranking members of the cartel.
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Leader of Sinaloa Cartel Receives Sentence for Trafficking Drugs to Alaska
