A high-ranking member of one of Mexico's most powerful and violent drug cartels, nicknamed "The Scorpion", has been extradited to the US after nearly ten years on the run.
Juan Manuel Abouzaid El Bayeh, 52, faces charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine after he was handed over to the US Marshals Service on Monday, April 29, following his arrest in Mexico in 2021. El Bayeh, who is known as “El Escorpion” or “The Scorpion,” was a known top associate of the prolific Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), according to authorities.
The cartel rose to power in Jalisco, Mexico, in 2009, following the collapse of the Valencia and Milenio cartel. According to the U.S Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, El Bayeh coordinated the shipment of drugs and the laundering money for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
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Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA], said El Bayeh's ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel date back to as early as 2012. The Mexican government blocked his bank accounts in June 2020 due to his link with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
The criminal organisation has expanded its drug business over the border to 11 states in the United States, including Hawaii, and the US territory of Puerto Rico. The cartel's alleged leader, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera-Cervantes, known as "el Mencho", is one of the DEA's most-wanted fugitives with a $10 million (£8 million) bounty on his head.
Officials said “el Mencho” turned the group into one of the most five dangerous transnational cartels after he led them through some horrific bloody battles to gain control of drug areas. Derek Maltz, who once served as the DEA’s chief of special operations, told the New York Post the "drug market is exploding" around the world.
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“The cartel has established itself around the world, not just dumping all the drugs in America, they’re sending drugs to 30, 40, 50 countries . . . because the market for drugs is exploding," he explained.
El Bayeh was part of a special group within CJNG run by Oseguera-Cervantes and was a "significant player". Mr Maltz said: “This guy is just another high-ranking confidante of El Mencho, who is obviously a significant player.”
The DEA's report found that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel "smuggles illicit drugs into the United States by accessing various trafficking corridors in northern Mexico along the southwest border including Tijuana, Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo. The [Jalisco New Generation Cartel] also has influence over the busiest port in Mexico, the Port of Manzanillo, and utilizes that influence for the distribution of large quantities of drugs."
A Washington federal grand jury indicted El Bayeh on drug-trafficking charges in May 2017. His bank accounts were blocked by Mexican authorities in June 2020, according to the Treasury Department, and he was designated a drug trafficker in March 2021 "for providing material support to" CJNG.
While Mr Maltz said he was glad to see 'The Scorpion' extradited, he doesn't believe it will help stem the flow of drugs across America's borders. He explained: "It's well beyond criminal cases against cartel leadership, we're well beyond that".
Mr Maltz believes there needs to be a powerful effort to cut the cartels' supply chain. El Bayeh is expected to appear in court on May 17 in Washington, DC.