Mexico City, Mexico
The Office of the Attorney General (FGR) and Secretary of the Navy captured in Zapopan, Jalisco, Juan Manuel Abouzaid El Bayeh “The Arab“, referred to in Mexico and the United States as an alleged financial and drug trafficking operator of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG).
According to the prosecution, the suspect was arrested on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by an inspection judge at the Federal Criminal Justice Center of Mexico City’s South Prison.
“Elements of the Federal Ministerial Police, with the support of SEMAR, completed the arrest on Avenue Ludwig Van Beethoven, in the city of Zapopan, Jalisco,” the FGR said.
“Following respective medical certification and other necessary procedures, including the corresponding sanitation measures derived from the health incidents, the inmate was transferred to Mexico City to make him available to the requesting federal authority.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Treasury Department recently included Abouzaid in its list of high-level international drug smugglers because of his alleged link to the CJNG, which is why it blocked their bank accounts.
In Mexico, the Financial Intelligence Unit had immobilized its financial assets since last year over suspicions of money laundering.
Also known by the aliases “El Escorpión” and “El Nene,” the alleged financial operator in the United States is charged with the crimes of criminal association to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine with the intent of importing them into the United States.
According to federal authorities in Mexico, the identification sheets, technical networks and family ties and analysis of the criminal structure have determined it to be associated with the CJNG and identified as a key element of money laundering and drug trafficking for that organization.