Sinaloa drug kingpin sentenced to 28 years for trafficking narcotics to Alaska

A Sinaloa Cartel kingpin was sentenced to 28 years in prison for shipping heroin, meth and cocaine to Alaska, an increasingly attractive target for drug lords looking to expand their narcotics pipelines, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Miguel Baez "Javi" Guevara had evaded the U.S. government for 10 years following a sweeping indictment out of Arizona. He later fled to Mexico, where he expanded his enterprise to ship huge quantities of drugs into the U.S. Mexican immigration authorities deported him to in 2021 following a grand jury indictment in Alaska.

Guevara previously pleaded guilty to one count of continuing criminal enterprise and one count of drug conspiracy in January, the department said. The Sinaloa Cartel, co-founded by drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, recruited couriers in Alaska through fake social media personas and encrypted messaging platforms.

Prosecutors say Guevara instructed the couriers how to smuggle drugs back to Alaska, where they were paid for the transport. The department said the drugs were then distributed locally throughout Alaska.

It's difficult to reach much of the remote state, so there are fewer criminal networks competing for customers, but that means drug traffickers can triple or quadruple their price and net much larger profits, prosecutors said.

"All the drug dealers are aware they can make more money selling drugs in Alaska," James Klugman, head of federal criminal prosecutions for Alaska's U.S. Attorney's Office, told the Louisville Courier-Journal, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.

Multiple federal agencies have fought for years to disrupt the cartel's distribution of fentanyl in the U.S., going as far to get imprisonment for El Chapo and arresting his son and co-founder in July.

Three others in the case have been sentenced in the Alaska case. Joel Rascone is serving a 120-month imprisonment, Serena Joseph is serving 63 months and Washahiotha Zaragoza is serving 18 months. The Justice Department believes Javier Armando Alvarez Pinuelas, Jazmin Adriana Olivares, Daniel Rodriguez Montoya and Juanita Salazar to be at large in Mexico.

Cartel targeted Alaska for latest expansion, harming communities

Guevara first came into the government's spotlight when he was indicted in October 2014 in Arizona for drug, money and weapons charges. He fled to Mexico after posting a $50,000 bail and continued work in the cartel until an Alaskan grand jury indicted him on Feb. 21, 2020. He was arrested and deported to the U.S. by Mexican authorities from the National Institute of Immigration - Instituto Nacional de Migración - on Sept. 10, 2021.

According to the 2020 indictment, Guevara targeted Alaskan women for recruitment as couriers and would pay for their transportation using prepaid debit cards, then pay the couriers with cash, heroin and meth. The female couriers traveled to the U.S. with male leaders who supervised them and instructed them on how to try and pass through airport screenings.

Guevara never crossed the border into the U.S., knowing he has outstanding federal and state warrants, according to the indictment.

"Guevara would send members of the Enterprise to Alaska to collect narcotics from couriers and to distribute the bulk quantities of narcotics to local street level dealers," the indictment read. "Local purchasers and distributors would contact Guevara through encrypted messaging apps and request certain quantities of narcotics. Guevara would act as the logistics manager and arrange for a time and location for a member of the Enterprise to meet with the local distributor."

Knowing they could be caught by law enforcement, members used coded language and pseudonyms to avoid detection, according to the indictment. The enterprise started around 2016, prosecutors said in court documents.

Cartels smuggled drugs into the state by car, mail, on their bodies, small ferries, planes and sometimes in shipping containers next to food. They targeted many communities in Alaska that are remote and don't have significant police presence.

Guevara helped run the cartel and had used violence to help spread drugs throughout Alaska, devastating communities, said David Reames, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Field Division.

The influx of drugs has caused issues in Alaska with surging overdose death rates, especially for Alaska Natives and American Indians, according to the Courier-Journal.

Law enforcement disrupted Guevara's enterprise and seized 7.1 kilograms of meth, about 10 kilograms of heroin and 900 grams of cocaine intended for Alaska, the Justice Department said. The venture produced millions of dollars in drug sales for Guevara, which were smuggled into Mexico.

U.S. disputes claims of Guevara being fully reformed

Before sentencing, several men sent letters of compassion to the court, saying they regarded Guevara as "Brother Miguel" and commended Guevara for his positive advice, loyalty to his religion and professional conduct.

But U.S. attorneys refuted stories of Guevara avoiding violence. They said an Alaskan woman was shot in the knee at Guevara's direction because he accused her boyfriend of stealing drugs. She was initially treated in Mexico and later transported to the U.S. for further treatment, prosecutors said.

"Guevara later bragged to other couriers and managers that he was responsible for the shooting, showed photos, and warned them not to steal product," prosecutors said. "He also bragged on Facebook about the shooting and messaged the victim afterwards."

Attorneys said despite Guevara completing several rehab programs, imprisonment was necessary due to his criminal history. He was ultimately sentenced to 28 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline, which will run concurrent to whichever sentence he receives in the Arizona case.

Federal agents have pushed to stop the Sinaloa Cartel's development in the U.S. for several decades, landing their historic break with El Chapo's 2019 imprisonment. El Chapo has been serving life, plus 30 years, in prison since 2019. His son, Joaquín Guzmán López, and co-founder Ismael Zambada García were arrested July 26 in Texas after they deboarded a private plane.

Contributing: Beth Warren, Courier Journal; Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY.

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.