Lupe Tapia’s Brother, Operator Of El Mayo Zambada, Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison.

Mica for cartelinsider.com

Felipe Tapia Quintero, brother of José Guadalupe and one of the main operators of Ismael El Mayo Zambada García from the Sinaloa Cartel, was sentenced to just over four years in prison for committing the crime of drug trafficking, specifically for possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine with the intent to sell.

A District Judge specialized in the Accusatorial Criminal Justice System in Mexico City, based in the Male Preventive Prison in the East, sentenced Tapia Quintero to 4 years and 7 months in prison. He was arrested along with Ángel Jhovanny González Martínez and Joel Feliciano Bustamante Ponce on June 28, 2022.

According to the Public Ministry of the Federation, Tapia Quintero was captured by elements of the Federal Ministerial Police (PFM), the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC), and the Mexican Army after carrying out a search warrant in a property located in the El Ranchito neighborhood, in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

The FGR indicated that at the place of arrest, 3,000 fentanyl pills, a bag containing 48.2 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, and 13 vehicles, among other objects, were seized.

Despite the information provided by the FGR, at the time of his capture, federal authorities reported that Felipe Tapia had 8,500 fentanyl pills, fentanyl paste, machines for processing pills, various chemical precursors, 10 tractor-trailers, three cargo trucks, nine luxury vehicles, and 11 trailer boxes.

Felipe is the brother of José Guadalupe Tapia Quintero, also known as Lupe, captured in a joint operation carried out by members of the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) and the Mexican Navy (Semar) during the early morning of February 9th, 2023, in the community of Tacuichamona, in the municipality of Culiacán.

Lupe Tapia is considered by authorities in the United States as one of the high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel and was formally charged by a federal grand jury in February 2013 for various crimes, such as conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine with intent to import; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and conspiracy to conceal money laundering.

According to American authorities, Lupe oversaw the transportation of cocaine and marijuana for the Mayo Zambada faction, while also being responsible for coordinating the monthly purchase and transportation of cocaine and methamphetamine from Sinaloa to the states of Arizona and California, United States.

Tapia Quintero also transported, with the help of trucks with trailers, methamphetamine from Sinaloa to Tijuana, Baja California, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the US.

Meanwhile, Lupe Tapia’s son, Heibar José, alias The Tattooed, was arrested six months before his father in the Bachigualato neighborhood, at the west of Culiacán.

According to Mexican authorities, El Tatuado was “the main producer of fentanyl pills”, while also being described as “the heir to one of the country’s most bloodthirsty organizations”.

He was also accused of trafficking cocaine to the US, which is why he was considered a “high-priority target” by the authorities of both countries.

Thanks for reading!

Mica

Email: mica@cartelinsider.com

Follow: https://twitter.com/cartelinsider1