EAST ST. LOUIS — In a superseding indictment unsealed today, high-ranking members of the Sinaloa Cartel are facing federal charges for their alleged involvement in trafficking hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine into southern Illinois and laundering the proceeds to Mexico.
“The Sinaloa Cartel relies on drug trafficking to finance its terrorism against the American people while spreading poison in our communities,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s indictment is a significant blow against this terrorist organization’s infrastructure as we carry out President Trump’s mission of dismantling and destroying the cartels.”
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“The Sinaloa Cartel is a vicious international criminal organization that spreads terror through intimidation, torture, and murder. The entire enterprise is financed through a drug distribution network that includes southern Illinois,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft for the Southern District of Illinois. “Today’s superseding indictment targets some of the highest level of Sinaloa leadership demonstrating our commitment to use every possible tool to crush this cartel, dismantling its operations, and protecting our community from its narcoterrorism.”
“Today’s announcement in the Southern District of Illinois is monumental in our fight to eliminate the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Administrator Terrance Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “The extraordinary work of the St. Louis Field Division and their partners resulted in the seizure of more than 800 pounds of fentanyl and exposed a money laundering network that pushed millions in cartel profits through U.S. banks. This is not a street-corner operation — it is a cartel pipeline that has flooded the Midwest with significant amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. We continue the fight, using all the resources of the United States government, to destroy the Sinaloa Cartel.”
The indictment alleges that the Sinaloa Cartel is a Mexican-based transnational drug trafficking organization that uses premeditated violence to control territory and undermine governmental authority. The Cartel sustains its enterprise by trafficking narcotics into the United States and funneling the profits back into Mexico.
Over approximately one week, the DEA, in conjunction with law enforcement partners, arrested 15 of the charged defendants in a nationwide operation involving Sinaloa Cartel associates. These indictments and arrests are the result of a years-long operation involving the removal of more than 400 kilograms of fentanyl, nearly 80 kilograms of methamphetamine and 50 kilograms of cocaine from communities in and around Southern Illinois.
President Donald J. Trump designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The designation included the Sinaloa Cartel among eight criminal organizations classified as FTOs and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1189) and Executive Order 13224.
Narcoterrorism is a federal crime that provides enhanced penalties to punish drug trafficking that supports terrorist organizations. The crime of providing material support applies when a person provides resources to an organization knowing that it has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment alleging that 26 defendants participated in a Sinaloa Cartel sourced drug distribution pipeline originating in Mexico that included the Southern District of Illinois, including the following:
Name | Age | Residence | Charge(s) |
Prospero Coronel-Sanchez, Article continues after sponsor message
also known as “Pro” | 40 | Mexican national | Narcoterrorism; providing material support to foreign terrorist organization; Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy |
Jose Luis Angulo-Soto, also known as “Jose Luis Angulo-Cazares” or “El Mi Nino” | Mexican national | Narcoterrorism; conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy | |
German Angel Alatorre-Monge | 24 | South Gate, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Leobardo Alcaraz-Ibarra | 51 | Phoenix | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Miguel Angel Aramburo, Jr. | 34 | Paramount, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Manuel Buenrostro | 38 | Cudahy, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Oscar Bryan Castro | 34 | Pasadena, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy |
Carlos Diaz, Jr. | 34 | Pasadena, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy |
Alejandro Flores | 30 | Cudahy, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Armando Gallardo | 46 | Chula Vista, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Karen L. Gandarillas-Carreno | 36 | Sun Valley, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy |
Roberto J. Gonzalez, Jr. | 39 | Bell, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Sabrina Danielle Herrera | 35 | South Gate, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Mauro Armando Luna-Renteria | 39 | Lynwood, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Lucia Viridiana Montano | 40 | Rio Rico, Arizona | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
David Alonso Pereda | 33 | Costa Mesa, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Memo Perez, also known as “Demecia Perez” | 50 | Los Angeles, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Jaqueline Desiree Piikkila-Vigueras | 49 | Tucson, Arizona | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy |
Miguel Rios | 31 | Cudahy, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Richard Ruiz, Jr. | 27 | Paramount, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Evan Sanchez | 31 | Victorville, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Julio Villa-Morales | 36 | Tucson, Arizona | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Jose Espino-Zavala | 44 | Mexican national | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Martin Ismael Zuniga-Lopez | 32 | Los Angeles, California | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine |
Earl Frank | 56 | O’Fallon, Illinois | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy (2 counts); distribution of controlled substances: methamphetamine |
Michael Pennel | 56 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering conspiracy |
According to court documents, the charged conduct occurred between January 2020 and July 2025. The conspiracy is accused of distributing more than 50 or more grams of methamphetamine, 400 or more grams of fentanyl, and five kilograms or more of cocaine.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.
DEA St. Louis, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. HSI’s Parole and Law Enforcement Programs Unit provided critical support.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karelia Rajagopal, Laura Reppert, and Thomas Leggans for the Southern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case.
In March 2023, the original indictment charged Earl Frank and 10 others with various federal offenses related to the drug trafficking conspiracy:
Name | Age | Residence | Charge(s) | Plea |
Earl Frank | 56 | O’Fallon, Illinois | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; distribution of controlled substance: methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy | Not guilty |
Michael Pennel | 56 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering | Not guilty |
Chontell Reynolds | 42 | East St. Louis, Illinois | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; distribution of controlled substance: methamphetamine | Guilty; awaiting sentencing |
Jeffery Neely | 54 | St. Louis, Missouri | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine | Guilty; awaiting sentencing |
Dereck Turnage | 49 | Bowling Green, Missouri | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine | Guilty; sentenced to 235 months in prison |
David Allen Day | 55 | Ironton, Missouri | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine | Guilty; Sentenced to 20 years in prison |
Dwayne Kimmins | 52 | St. Louis, Missouri | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine | Guilty; Sentenced to nine years in prison |
Charles R. Evans | 35 | O’Fallon, Missouri | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine | Guilty; Awaiting sentencing |
Shannon Guyton | 46 | Clarkton, Missouri | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; transportation in aid of racketeering enterprise | Guilty; sentenced to eight years in prison |
Kimberly Hoskins | 38 | O’Fallon, Illinois | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; money laundering | Guilty; Awaiting sentencing |
Aundre Vaughn | 54 | East St. Louis, Illinois | Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances: methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; distribution of controlled substances: fentanyl | Guilty; Awaiting sentencing |
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
