EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Mexican government has extradited to the United States three women sought for drug offenses, including at least one alleged member of a Jalisco, Mexico-based transnational criminal organization.
The women were turned over to U.S. authorities at an airport in Mexico in late December and early January and flown to face pending charges in California, Texas and New Jersey.
One of the suspects, Norma Flores Fernandez, 55, also known as “Norma Camarillo,” already appeared before a judge in New Jersey federal court. She pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Phillip R. Sellinger confirmed.
The charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute heroin each carry a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison and a statutory maximum fine of $10 million.
Flores allegedly is part of a criminal organization based in Guadalajara – presumably the Jalisco New Generation Cartel – which distributed large amounts of heroin and cocaine in the U.S. from March 2018 through December 2019. According to court documents, Flores coordinated the distribution of 15 kilograms of cocaine seized in Chicago and a 5.6-kilo shipment of heroin seized in New Jersey.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted in “securing the arrest of Flores and her extradition to the United States,” according to the Department of Justice, which thanked officials in Mexico for their cooperation.
Three men and another woman have already pleaded guilty to drug offenses in connection with that case, the Department of Justice said. The Jalisco cartel, or CJNG, is led by fugitive Nemesio ‘El Mencho” Oceguera Cervantes, members of his family and a man by the last name of Urena, according to Mexican government sources.
Norma Flores Fernandez, left, Maria Elena Urena Cervantes, and Alma Rosa Polendo are three women the Mexican government extradited to the United States recently.
Maria Elena Urena Cervantes is facing charges of conspiracy, importation of methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl, and bail jumping in U.S. Federal Court for the Southern District of California. In 2017, she and another woman identified as Rosa de Arcos allegedly imported 52 pounds of meth, 34 pounds of fentanyl and 2 pounds of cocaine and conspired to distribute the drugs, according to a federal indictment.
Records show Urena was arrested on Dec. 19 in Mexico and handed over to the U.S. Marshals Service for transport to San Diego.
Alma Rosa Polendo entered a guilty plea on charges of illegal importation of cocaine in U.S. Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas more than 20 years ago. She posted a $30,000 cash bond before sentencing and allegedly disappeared.
Records show she was sentenced in absentia in May 2002 to 360 months (30 years) in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and a $100 administrative fee. The case was transferred from judge to judge for the next few years until going dormant at the end of 2004.
An arrest warrant was executed for Polendo on Dec. 29 in Mexico. Her attorney made an initial appearance during proceedings on Jan. 3 in the courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Cordova, in Del Rio, Texas, for a bond revocation hearing.
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