EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – An alleged Mexican trafficker known as “Chapo” and two associates are facing federal charges in connection with the attempted delivery of 120 pounds of methamphetamine to an undercover officer in Phoenix.
Court records show members of a drug task force in Arizona had been tracking Jonathan Mora Leon, aka “Chapo,” for nearly a year before arresting him on Jan. 18 during an undercover drug buy.
Task force members established contact with Mora last February when an undercover officer arranged for an initial drug buy of 5,000 fentanyl pills in Phoenix, court records show. A courier for the alleged trafficker delivered the pills at a pre-arranged location and received $2,300 from the officer on Feb 17.
The task force arranged for a second drug buy in Phoenix on May 4, receiving another 5,000 fentanyl pills at a slightly higher price of $2,500, records show.
On Nov. 1, the undercover officer and Mora again spoke on the phone to negotiate the delivery of 2 pounds of methamphetamine. This time, delivery was made in Tucson and Mora’s courier received $1,800 from the agent, records show.
With rapport established, the undercover officer in mid-January asked Mora if he could deliver to him 120 pounds of meth. A criminal complaint alleges the trafficker told the undercover officer he could not drop that much product in Tucson but could do so in Phoenix the next day.
On Jan. 18, Mora, Armando Puentes Melendez and Tadeo Becerra Fierro met in Phoenix with the man they thought had become a business partner to strike a deal for the 120 pounds of meth at $900 a pound, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona last Monday.
The buyer was supposed to provide a vehicle that would be loaded up with drugs stashed at a secret location. Mora and Puentes stayed with the undercover officer while Becerra took the vehicle away. Additional undercover officers tracked Becerra to a house in Phoenix where he parked, opened the trunk, and proceeded to go in and out, court records show.
The officers remotely disabled the vehicle and converged on the residence; Becerra allegedly fled on foot when the officers approached but was apprehended a short distance away. Records show the vehicle’s trunk now held black bags, several individually wrapped packages and a plastic tote bag with a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamines. The approximate weight of the packages was 120 pounds.
Mora and Puentes were then taken into custody. The two and Becerra were arrested on charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to the criminal complaint filed by task force officer K.W. Hedrick.
The three Mexican nationals were scheduled to appear Thursday at a detention hearing.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misidentified the judge who signed off on the criminal complaint against Jonathan Mora Leon, et al. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline M. Rateau didn’t sign the complaint.