High-Ranking Sinaloa Cartel Member Pleads Guilty to Importing Thousands of Kilograms of Cocaine, Laundering Millions of Dollars for Cartel in Homeland Security Task Force Investigation
SAN DIEGO / Thursday, September 17, 2026 – Gerardo Julio Rueda Torres pleaded guilty in federal court today following a Homeland Security Task Force investigation to charges of conspiring to import and distribute multiple tons of cocaine and launder millions of dollars of drug proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel.
According to the plea agreement, Rueda Torres was one of the leaders of the Los Rusos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. In that role, he oversaw the importation of approximately 50 kilograms of cocaine per week into the United States from Mexico for over a decade. Rueda’s underlings imported the cocaine into the United States in passenger cars crossing from Mexicali, Mexico into Imperial County, California, before transporting it to Arizona, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.
Rueda also admitted in his plea agreement that he maintained an armed security force to protect him and other Los Rusos leaders from violent attacks by members of the rival Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Rueda also pleaded guilty to his nearly 20-year involvement in laundering money for drug cartels. According to the plea agreement, this started with personally driving $30,000 to Mexico. Over the years, his operations evolved into a “network of load drivers” under his command who moved $500,000 at a time back to the Sinaloa Cartel.
The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on December 4, 2026, at 9:00am before U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Benjamin. Former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lauricella also assisted in the investigation and prosecution.
DEFENDANTS Case Number 24-cr-2617-RSH
Gerardo Julio Rueda Torres Age: 49 Mexicali, Mexico
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Import Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 952, 960, and 963
Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison
Conspiracy to Launder Money – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)
Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Homeland Security Investigations
Drug Enforcement Administration
United States Customs and Border Protection
This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Diego comprises agents and officers from FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Department of Defense, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Interpol, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
Contact
Contact: Kelly Thornton
Director of Media Relations
Kelly.Thornton@usdoj.gov
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California
