Chemical broker sentenced to nearly 19 years for supplying drug cartel with massive amounts of fentanyl, meth precursors

WASHINGTON — A chemical broker responsible for illegally supplying one of Mexico’s largest and most dangerous drug cartels with enough precursor chemicals to produce more than 2 billion doses of fentanyl and 700 million doses of methamphetamine was sentenced Feb. 23 to almost 19 years in federal prison following a multiagency investigation spearheaded by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Los Angeles, with assistance from U.S. Marshals Service’s Investigative Operations Division and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Joint Interagency Task Force West.

HSI Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger, acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram made the announcement.

Javier Algredo Vazquez, a 56-year-old resident of Queens, New York, was sentenced to 18 years and eight months in federal prison for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine for unlawful importation into the United States, conspiracy to distribute a List I chemical to manufacture methamphetamine for unlawful importation into the United States, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Algredo Vazquez was convicted of the charges in July 2023.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Algredo Vazquez procured more than 5 million kilograms of chemicals, including methylamine, and imported them into Mexico for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion to produce illicit narcotics and traffic them into the United States. Algredo Vazquez also transferred millions of dollars from the United States to chemical suppliers in China and India to procure the chemicals.

Trial Attorney Kate Naseef, acting Assistant Deputy Chief Nhan Nguyen, and acting Deputy Chief Kaitlin Sahni of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section prosecuted the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Mexican Attorney General’s Office assisted in securing the conviction.

The Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, which is based in the State of Jalisco in Mexico, is one of the largest, most dangerous and most prolific drug cartels in Mexico and is responsible for transporting tonnage quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.

For more breaking news and information on HSI’s efforts to aggressively investigate drug trafficking and money laundering follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSI_HQ.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)