By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
The man who headed up the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico was sentenced Friday in Arizona to 27 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $4 million, the Associated Press reported.
Carlos Molinares Nunez, aka “Caliche,” was arrested in 2006 while staying with his wife’s relatives in Tucson, AP reported. Authorities say he headed up the cartel fort five years from Naco in Sonora, Mexico.
“Caliche was a key figure in the violent drug trade of the Sinaloa cartel,” U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke said, according to AP. “With this sentencing, his individual organization has been dismantled and destroyed.”
Molinares’ organization used sophisticated radio communications and observation equipment to keep drivers from getting caught crossing the border, AP reported.
