The federal authorities said on Tuesday that they had charged the two main leaders of a Mexican drug cartel and offered up to $ 8 million of awards for information leading to their capture and their conviction.
Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, are accused of having participated in a conspiracy to make cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl and importing and distribution of drugs in the United States, authorities announced at a press conference in Atlanta. The accusation act with three newly non -sealed counts was returned by a large jury in September.
The two brothers are the leaders of Nueva Familia MichoacanaA Mexican cartel who was officially appointed by the United States government in February as a “foreign terrorist organization,” the authorities said.
“If you contribute to the deaths of the Americans by tightening poison in our communities, we will work tirelessly to find you and translate you into justice,” said Prosecutor General Pam Bondi in a statement.
The State Department offers up to 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrest and / or the conviction of Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga and up to 3 million dollars for information on Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olaascoaga, which is also called “The Strawberry”. The two men are said to be in Mexico, officials said.
US State Department
Separately the American treasure announced new sanctions Wednesday against the two men and as two other alleged leaders of the cartel, which the United States designates as a “foreign terrorist organization”.
In addition to drug trafficking, the Cartel of Familia Michoacana is also engaged in extensions, kidnappings and murders, according to American prosecutors.
Last year, a Mexican organization of human rights reported that a community of the southern state of Guerrero had been attacked by drones and armed men were allegedly from the Familia Michoacana drug cartel. At least Six people were killed And 13 others injured, said the state prosecutor’s office.
In 2023, the cartel was suspected of leaving a Human leg cut Found suspended from a pedestrian bridge just west of Mexico City. The officials said that the body trunk was left in the street below, near the center of the city, as well as handwritten panels signed by the Cartel of Familia Michoacana.
The cartel “used drones to drop bombs on its rivals, with total contempt for the civilian population of Mexico.”, Said the American Treasury department on Wednesday. “They also terrorize local communities with kidnappings, murders and extortion.”
In 2022, a man identifying himself as one of the leaders of the cartel published a video on social media saying that an attack that killed 20 people was actually intended for him.
