El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel Assassin 'Grim Reaper' Gets Life in Prison; Gulf Cartel Boss 'El Contador' Indicted

A Sinaloa Cartel assassin, known as the "Grim Reaper," has been sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday.

Prosecutors said Mario Iglesias-Villegas, 37, alias "Grim Reaper," has played a significant role in the deaths of thousands of people from 2008 to 2011 in Juarez.

According to Border Report, Iglesias-Villegas was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. He was convicted by a federal judge in Texas last October for his roles in the cartel's narcotics distribution operations.

Iglesias-Villegas was convicted on several drug trafficking, weapon, and money laundering charges. The U.S. Attorney's Office Western District of Texas said the Sinaloa Cartel member was found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes and racketeering conspiracy.

Grim Reaper was also found guilty of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import a controlled substance, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

He was also convicted of five counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, and kidnapping.

Iglesias-Villegas, who is from Chihuahua, Mexico, reportedly joined the Sinaloa Cartel in 2008, when the group was led by the notorious drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera. Grim Reaper was the head of a group of Sinaloa Cartel sicarios or assassins until his arrest in 2012.

The Attorney's Office Western District of Texas said Iglesias-Villegas' presence has allowed the Sinaloa Cartel to control the drug corridor in Juarez that led to the successful import of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S.

Co-Defendant of Sinaloa Cartel Assassin 'Grim Reaper' Also Gets Life in Prison

Mario Iglesias-Villegas' co-defendant Arturo Shows Urquidi was also sentenced to life in prison early this month for his role in the Sinaloa Cartel. Urquidi, 50, also known as "Chous," was a former police officer in Chihuahua.

He allegedly assisted in the security of stash houses where thousands of kilos of cocaine were unloaded from tanker trucks and then reloaded with weapons and money returning to Culiacan in Sinaloa, Mexico.

With the former policeman's involvement, the Sinaloa Cartel successfully imported thousands of kilos of cocaine, worth over $1 billion, into the U.S.

Grim Reaper and Chous were among 24 alleged Sinaloa Cartel members indicted in 2012 over their roles in the group. The other defendants included El Chapo and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who allegedly took over the Mexican drug cartel after El Chapo was arrested in Mexico in 2016.

According to the Attorney's Office Western District of Texas, the Sinaloa Cartel's criminal activity in the Ciudad Juarez and El Paso area included the violence that occurred during the war between Sinaloa Cartel and Juarez Cartel.

It led to the death of thousands of people in Ciudad Juarez and throughout Mexico's states of Chihuahua and Durango. The violence gave rise to Ciudad Juarez being named the "deadliest city in the world."

Gulf Cartel Head 'El Contador' Indicted

Jose Alfredo "El Contador" Cardenas-Martinez, a Gulf Cartel leader, has been indicted in Brownsville, Texas on various drug charges on Thursday.

According to KRGV, El Contador, 42, is charged with an international conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, cocaine, and fentanyl.

The indictment also alleged that he possessed with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of meth, five kilograms of cocaine, and 400 grams or more of fentanyl.

In a press release, the United States Attorney's Office said Cardenas-Martinez, who was the head of the Gulf Cartel or Cartel del Golfo in Matamoros and its surrounding areas since 2015, has allegedly coordinated the shipment of narcotics to the U.S. for illegal sale across the country until 2021.

El Contador, who was arrested in Mexico's state of Tamaulipas last month, could face up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine if convicted.

The Gulf Cartel leader is currently in a Mexican jail pending litigation on the U.S.' extradition request.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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