Witnesses: Suspect is top cartel operative
EL PASO — Two witnesses testified Monday that a man on trial on drug-smuggling charges is one of Mexican kingpin Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman’s top operatives.
The trial of Fernando Ontiveros-Arambula and Manuel Chavez-Betancourt resumes today in Judge David Briones’ court. Both pleaded not guilty.
Silvia Carbajal, 26, a former girlfriend of Ontiveros-Arambula, testified that Ontiveros-Arambula told her “he was on the same level as ‘Mayito.’”
“Mayito” is a nickname for an associate of the Sinaloa cartel in alliance with Guzman.
Carbajal said she worked for Ontiveros-Arambula as a drug smuggler and money courier, and had a child by him. She said he told her he flew into Mexico’s interior for meetings with Guzman and other drug-traffickers, and also worked with a man nicknamed “Arabe.”
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