Cartel Commanders Charged with International Cocaine and Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy and Firearm Offenses

A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment today charging Ramon Alvarez Ayala, 44, and Rafael Alvarez Ayala, 42, both Mexican nationals, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and possessing a firearm, including a machinegun, in furtherance of the drug trafficking offense.

According to court documents, brothers Ramon Alvarez Ayala, also known as "R1," and Rafael Alvarez Ayala, also known as "R2" and "Rafa," were regional commanders for the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in Michoacán, Mexico. On Feb. 20, 2025, the U.S. Secretary of State designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization.

"The Department of Justice is committed to the total elimination of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "By targeting these regional commanders, we take another step towards fulfilling that commitment to eliminate the scourge of cartels like CJNG."

"Every indictment secured against members of drug trafficking cartels, like CJNG, sends a clear message: DEA is committed and focused on dismantling violent and ruthless terrorist organizations," said Special Agent in Charge and National Coordination Center Deputy Director Cindy Marx of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Special Operations Division. "Using all of the resources provided by the Homeland Security Task Force, DEA is pursuing the leaders, facilitators, financiers, and corrupt enablers of narco-terrorist organizations and bringing them to justice in the United States at unprecedented levels."

The Alvarez Ayala brothers are charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine for importation into the United States from 2004 through December 2023, and using, carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm, including a machinegun, in relation to the drug trafficking conspiracy. If convicted, the Alvarez Ayalas each face a mandatory minimum penalty of 40 years in prison and a maximum penalty of two consecutive life prison sentences.

The DEA's Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit Los Angeles is investigating the case. The Department of Justice thanks the Government of Mexico for securing the arrest of Ramon Alvarez Ayala.

Chief Kaitlin Sahni of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit (NDDU) and Trial Attorneys Nicole Lockhart, Lernik Begian, and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case.

The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section's (MNF) mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit investigates and prosecutes the top command and control elements of international drug cartels, drug trafficking organizations and related transnational criminal organizations.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.