The former head of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel assassination squad, who has been linked to thousands of murders in northern Mexico over a span of just four years, will spend the rest of his life in a US prison.
Mario Iglesias-Villegas was sentenced by the US District Court for the Western District of Texas last Thursday. He also faces a $100,000 fine for his role in the crime syndicate’s operations.
The 37-year-old, also known as the “Grim Reaper,” was convicted by the federal jury in El Paso on October 22, 2021.
Federal investigators have determined that he was directly involved in the murder of thousands of people in the border city of Ciudad Juárez between 2008 and 2011 when the Sinaloa Cartel fought with the Juárez Cartel for control of drug trafficking routes into the United States.
He was later found guilty of a number of crimes, including conspiring to break the law of the Racketeering-influenced corrupt organization because of his involvement in the Sinaloa Cartel.
He was also convicted of conspiracy to possess and import cocaine and marijuana, as well as another charge of conspiracy to launder money. In addition, he was found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms to further drug trafficking crimes, conspiracy to kill abroad, and kidnapping.
Iglesias-Villegas joined the transnational drug trafficking organization in 2008 and took orders from Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, according to the US Department of Justice.
Mario Iglesias-Villegas, leader of a killer gang of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel, was sentenced to life in prison by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on Thursday.
A federal court in Texas last Thursday sentenced Mario Iglesias-Villegas to life in prison for his role in the Sinaloa cartel’s operations. Cartel co-founder Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán (center) gave orders to Iglesias-Villegas, who from 2008 to 2011 led a gang of assassins linked to thousands of murders in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
Iglesias-Villegas was convicted for his role in the kidnapping and murder of Sergio Saucedo, who was abducted from his home in Horizon City on September 3, 2009.
Arturo Shows Urquidi, a former police officer in Mexico, was sentenced to life in prison on March 3 for his role in helping the Sinaloa cartel drug trade. The 50-year-old worked under Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada – who helped Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán set up the cartel. Shows Urquidi’s co-defendant Mario Iglesias-Villegas was also sentenced to life imprisonment last Thursday
The cartel framed Saucedo for the loss of 670 pounds of cocaine seized by US Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint. He was found dead in Ciudad Juárez a few days after his kidnapping.
Iglesias-Villegas also played a crucial role in the kidnapping and murder of Rafael-Morales Valencia, Jaime Morales-Valencia and Guadalupe Morales-Arreola on May 7, 2010. The three were kidnapped at gunpoint outside a church in Ciudad Juárez, where Rafael Morales Valencia had married. Their bodies were found in the trunk of an abandoned vehicle four days later
“The Iglesias acts of violence allowed the Sinaloa cartel to control the Juarez drug corridor and successfully import cocaine and marijuana into the United States,” the Justice Department said in its press release.
“The conviction of Mario Iglesias-Villegas is another step in ending the violence perpetrated by criminal drug trafficking organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Jeffrey R. Downey, special agent for the FBI’s El Paso field office.
Iglesias-Villegas co-defendant Arturo Shows Urquidi was sentenced to life imprisonment on March 3.
Shows Urquidi, a former Mexican police officer, reported to Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, who also helped El Chapo set up the criminal organization.
The rogue cop was tasked with setting up security for properties used by the cartel to store thousands of pounds of cocaine removed from tankers. The vehicles were also used to transport cash proceeds from drug sales and arms to Sinaloa’s capital, Culiacan.
Federal agents seized hundreds of pounds of cocaine and thousands of pounds of marijuana in the United States during the investigation. Authorities also seized millions of dollars in cartel profits to be smuggled back to Mexico.