Roberto Nájera Gutiérrez, alias ‘La Gallina’ or “Kung Fu Panda,” pleaded not guilty after his extradition from Mexico to the United States, where he faces charges of leading a criminal organisation linked to the Sinaloa Cartel that trafficked drugs and laundered money on a large scale between December 2013 and March 2018, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) reported on 15 January 2026. 15 January 2026, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
The defendant was extradited on 8 January 2026 from State Social Reintegration Centre No. 14, known as “El Amate”, located in the municipality of Cintalapa de Chiapas, Chiapas. Upon his arrival in Atlanta, Georgia, Nájera Gutiérrez appeared before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of cocaine trafficking and criminal association.
According to the U.S. indictment, Nájera Gutiérrez coordinated an international drug trafficking and money laundering network that operated in five countries: Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States. Authorities identified the defendant as one of the leaders and organizers responsible for overseeing the drug trafficking and money laundering activities of a criminal organization that operated in the Mexican states of Chiapas, Veracruz, and Campeche.
The DOJ stated that Nájera Gutiérrez allegedly distributed cocaine to other high-ranking drug traffickers in Mexico, who subsequently imported the drug into Atlanta, Georgia. The criminal organization allegedly transported cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine from Belize and Guatemala into Mexico, ultimately bringing them into the United States.
Originally from the municipality of Palenque, Chiapas, 48 years old, 1.83 meters tall, and with black eyes, Nájera Gutiérrez used a facade as a cattle rancher to conceal his illicit activities. Also known by the aliases “Chendo” or “Gordo,” the accused maintained contacts with Colombian drug lords who supplied him with cocaine.
His facade as a Mexican businessman in the United States was solidified in 2016, when the World Brahman Cattle Registry included him with identification number 75029 in the Member Directory of Breeders of the American Brahman Breeders Association (ABBA), under the auspices of the company Agropecuaria NL, SPR de RL de CV, as an associate breeder.
According to the extradition request, Nájera Gutiérrez, along with César Gastelum Serrano, another Sinaloa Cartel operator in Mexico and Central America, who was extradited in November 2015, received cocaine in Honduras that arrived by ship, and subsequently coordinated the transportation of the drugs to the Mexico-Guatemala border, destined for Mexico City and the United States.
It was in March 2015 that U.S. authorities, specifically special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), began the investigation by intercepting his conversations conducted via the personal identification number (PIN) of his Blackberry phone. In his communications, Nájera Gutiérrez preferred to refer to the drugs as “cows” to avoid suspicion.
On March 24 and 27, 2015, he instructed a person to deliver the proceeds to another accomplice at a personal meeting, amounting to four thousand dollars and 50,000 pesos, for deposit into different bank accounts. “Send me about 10 [units] via DHL here [his location],” Nájera Gutiérrez said on one occasion to one of his accomplices to receive the millions in profits. According to the extradition document, after selling the drugs, they collected the profits and used part of them to buy and maintain luxury homes, land, and vehicles in the United States, while their couriers transported part of the profits to members of the organization in Mexico.
Nájera Gutiérrez was first arrested in 2013 by elements of the then Federal Police (PF), but he was released. Subsequently, he was recaptured on January 26, 2017, in Yucatán, by elements of the State Public Security Secretariat. At a checkpoint, the officers inspected the Toyota Hilux vehicle in which he was traveling with two other men.
The police discovered that Nájera Gutiérrez was carrying a .45 caliber Colt pistol on his waist. In addition, they found inside the vehicle a 7.62 caliber rifle, another 9 millimeter Taurus pistol, a Smith & Wesson firearm, four magazines, and 75 cartridges, which were for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, and National Air Force.
After his capture, he was imprisoned in the Cintalapa prison for the crime of possessing a firearm for the exclusive use of the Army, Navy, and National Air Force. His sentence was scheduled to end in 2023, the date on which the United States filed the formal extradition request.
One of his former associates, who is imprisoned in the “La Picota” prison in Colombia, declared that in 2017, when he went to Tapachula, Chiapas, he spoke with people who confirmed that Nájera Gutiérrez, even while incarcerated in the “El Amate” prison in Cintalapa, Chiapas, was still giving orders to his accomplices.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) authorized the extradition of Nájera Gutiérrez on December 17, 2024. On December 29, 2025, a Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters determined that the extradition was appropriate, confirming the denial of the appeal against his surrender. The First Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters upheld the challenged ruling, determining that the judge had complied with the requirements and procedures established for authorizing his extradition to the U.S. authorities. In October 2023, Nájera Gutiérrez was served with an order pursuant to the extradition request from the United States. It wasn’t until January 8, 2026, that he was finally extradited from Mexico to the United States.
U.S. authorities stated that Nájera Gutiérrez led a criminal organization linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, which trafficked drugs and laundered money on a large scale between December 2013 and March 2018, along Mexico’s southern border. He was attributed with controlling drug trafficking in Chiapas, Veracruz, Campeche, and Yucatán, in addition to being a financial operator for the Sinaloa Cartel in southeastern Mexico. He was considered a suspected lieutenant of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias “El Chapo,” in southeastern Mexico and Belize.
Sources: Zeta Tijuana, Cartel Insider Archives
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