An alleged high-level cartel leader who was arrested by Mexican authorities following a 2020 shootout on the streets of downtown Tijuana has been extradited to San Diego, where he is facing a federal drug conspiracy indictment.
Octavio Leal Hernandez, known as “Chapito Leal,” pleaded not guilty to two drug distribution conspiracy charges during an initial appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Diego. The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury in May 2020, alleges the 44-year-old Leal trafficked large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana from Mexico into the U.S.
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Mexican authorities captured Leal and seven others in February 2020 following a shootout between police and alleged cartel members. In the tense days following his arrest, heavily armed Tijuana police officers and members of Mexico’s Army and National Guard were sent to protect the location where he was detained.
Leal ultimately remained in Mexican custody for nearly five years awaiting extradition. He arrived Wednesday in San Diego, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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In a memorandum of detention arguing that he should remain in custody here, prosecutors alleged that a wiretap investigation revealed that Leal “is a violent individual and has committed acts of violence to facilitate his drug trafficking activities.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major granted the government’s request to hold Leal without bond pending trial.
“This appearance in an American court is the result of our unwavering pursuit of those who perpetuate violence and push narcotics into our communities,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement. “We will hold traffickers accountable, no matter how long it takes.”
According to the memorandum of detention, Leal began in 2007 to rise through the ranks of the Sinaloa cartel, which at the time was led by notorious kingpins Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. Prosecutors allege Leal was a cell leader within the Beltrán Leyva faction of the cartel.
The Beltrán Leyva organization was once one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels and was so named for five brothers who led the group. In late 2023, the Justice Department and Treasury Department announced coinciding indictments and sanctions against dozens of alleged leaders and members of a modern-day version of the Beltrán Leyva organization.
Prosecutors allege one of the top leaders of that group is Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, who is known as “Chapo Isidro.” Meza Flores — who reportedly conspired with Sinaloa cartel leaders last fall ahead of an extremely bloody and violent turf war in Sinaloa — is wanted by the FBI and the subject of a $5 million reward.
Prosecutors alleged in the memorandum of detention filed Thursday that Leal was specifically aligned with Meza Flores within the Beltrán Leyva faction of the Sinaloa cartel.
The prosecutors said a 2012 wiretap investigation combined with evidence from confidential sources and cooperating witnesses confirmed that up until his 2020 arrest, Leal “remained one of the organization’s leaders … responsible for directing, managing, and overseeing the organization’s drug trafficking in Tijuana.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Mellor wrote that the investigation showed Leal oversaw all aspects of the drug-trafficking business. He allegedly oversaw the collection and preparation of large shipments from Tijuana into the U.S.; directed and coordinated the logistics of storing the drugs in stash houses; and directed the transportation of the drugs to distributors and customers throughout California and the rest of the country.
