EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A federal jury found two Sinaloa cartel members guilty of various counts, including trafficking drugs and firearms, and counts involving organized crime in the U.S. and Mexico.
Mario Iglesias Villegas, a former sicario also known as “the Grim Reaper” for the cartel, was found guilty of conspiracy of possessing narcotics, laundering money, racketeering and conspiracy to kill and kidnap.
Arturo Shows Urquidi, a former state policeman and drug trafficker for the cartel, of criminal enterprise, possessing drugs, laundering and trafficking drugs and firearms.
The court will now consider sentencing for the two cartel members.
On Thursday, prosecutors and defense attorneys made their case before the jury arguing over the legitimacy of testimony by at least a dozen incarcerated members of the Sinaloa cartel.
During the trial, Urquidi and Iglesias were stoic in their expressions as they listened to their former colleagues testified against them.
The trial is part of a large indictment by a federal grand jury that included Sinaloa cartel leaders Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “Mayo” Zambada Garcia.
On April 24, 2012, the leaders and 22 other members of the cartel were charged with criminal activities ranging from trafficking drugs to conspiracy to kill in a foreign country.
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