He Sinaloa Cartel It has a presence in practically the entire American continent, including regions as far away as Alaska, where the criminal organization used a peculiar practice to control the extreme north.
And, to invade the snowy streets of that place with narcotics such as heroin and methamphetamine, the cartel required local drug sellers, so it carried out recruitment based on social networks.
According to court documents obtained by the newspaper Milenio, two members of the criminal organization identified only as Omar or Alejandro, contacted people residing in Alaska and became their friends.
Once they gained their trust, They offered them an all-paid trip to Mexicowhich was true, although not exactly to get to know the country on a tourist tour.
According to the aforementioned media, when they arrived at beach destinations such as Puerto Peñasco, in Sonora, they revealed the truth: The Sinaloa Cartel was recruiting local drug sellers and mules with the intention of extending their businesses to that distant place where they had not been able to enter.
The threats
If they refused, they proceeded to the threats to both themselves and their familieswhich was revealed after a drug seizure that occurred in 2016.
On that occasion, a shipment of methamphetamine was discovered by the United States Coast Guard and Alaska State Troopers on the Ketchikan ferry, a popular cruise route.
After the first investigations, it was determined that the relatives of the ferry workers received threats through text messages and phone calls from Mexico.
Court documents identified Miguel Baez Guevaraa member of the Sinaloa Cartel, as the organization’s operator in Alaska. Charged in 2014 in Arizona for drug trafficking, he paid $50,000 bail and fled to Mexico.
Since then he began planning his invasion of Alaska, and to do so he posed as Alejandro on social media.
“Sinaloa never forgets”
The authorities found messages that describe Báez Guevara’s way of operating to terrorize the inhabitants.
“I need your uncle to pay me. If not, we are going to start burning their houses, those of their family members one by one. We can avoid it if only they did good business… but that has already happened,” says one of the messages.
“I’m going to make sure this is your last smile! Sinaloa is going to make you pay one way or another. Just remember, Sinaloa never forgets,” reads another.
All of this was discovered between June and July 2017, when five Alaskan women were arrested by authorities with heroin and methamphetamine in Arizona.
These arrests set off alarm bells for the authorities.since it is not common for residents of this place to be arrested trafficking drugs so far from home.
They all had plane tickets back to Alaska, and they revealed that the person who had bought them the tickets was Báez Guevara’s organization. The investigation revealed that the women were recruited with the method described, through Facebook, and that they communicated with Báez via encrypted messaging applications.
The women revealed that they were taken from Alaska to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, from there escorted to a hotel where they remained under supervision for several days. They were then given instructions on how to smuggle the drugs across the border and back to Alaska.
According to Millennium, Báez continued recruiting people until 2021until the Federal Police were able to identify its location in Mexico. The authorities arrested him in Sonora, from where the intimidation against his victims began.
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