Raul Floresaka The Uncle, was arrested in an operation carried out by ministerial agents in Zapopan, Jalisco, on July 20, 2017. But nothing was known about his arrest until almost three weeks later. Discreet and methodical, Flores was a practically unknown boss until August 9 when the Treasury Department dropped a bomb, accusing soccer player Rafa Márquez and singer Julión Álvarez of being his namesakes and including them on the so-called black list of the United States. Washington's decision cast doubt on Márquez's participation in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and forced Álvarez, one of Mexico's most famous artists, to remove his material from platforms such as YouTube, Spoitfy and Apple Music. The media coverage focused on that, until both were able to clear their names: the former Barcelona defender was acquitted by the Mexican justice system in early 2018 and by the American justice system in 2021, while the norteño-banda interpreter was redeemed in 2022 and He was able to give a concert again on the other side of the border last year. Away from the spotlight, Flores did not have the same luck. He fought for four years until he was extradited and finally sentenced last Friday to 21 years and 10 months in prison for cocaine trafficking.
The sanctions imposed by the US Treasury revealed an extensive network used to launder money: 21 Mexicans and 42 companies were identified by Washington, including family members and close collaborators. In Flores' empire of front companies there was a famous casino in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, a Second Division soccer team, restaurants, bars, companies linked to the music industry, health services and tourism. It was the work of more than 30 years between legal and illegal businesses, and the fruit of countless relationships with the de facto and political powers of the country that allowed him to walk around without escorts and at ease. The United States estimates its profits over the years at hundreds of millions of dollars. The Washington DC judge who sentenced him last week ordered him to return a sum of around 280 million.
El Tío, 71 years old, attracted the attention of drug traffickers since the eighties, when he wove a sophisticated network that imported fayuca from the United States, as American products that were not in the country and that crossed the border without going through customs were called in Mexico, according to the judicial summary. Flores brought clothing, watches and electronics in cargo trucks that traveled thousands of kilometers before reaching the final consumers. In 1983, a Colombian boss saw potential in the business and introduced him to Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, according to court documents to which this newspaper has had access. The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel welcomed him and from then on the flow of merchandise changed radically: Flores stopped bringing fayuca from the north, was now carrying cocaine from Mexico to the border with the United States. There, El Chapo introduced it into tunnels to meet the demand for drugs in the immense American market.
Little by little, he gained the trust of the boss, who introduced him to bosses like Arturo and Héctor Beltrán Leyva—at that time allies of El Chapo and later, his enemies—and also entrusted him with transporting the profits to Mexico. By the end of the eighties, Flores was already investing in his own cocaine shipments and became Guzmán's direct emissary with other drug traffickers. Step by step he understood how the business was changing, first he moved drugs in small planes and, well into the 2000s, by sea. Uncle's contacts extended throughout South America: he received shipments from Brazil, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.
At the peak of his operations, Flores imported two tons of cocaine a week from Central and South America into Mexico. Not only did he know the logistics, he also had good relations with senior police and military officers. Taking the drugs to the United States was not a problem: in a matter of days he sent more than half of what he received to US territory, according to authorities. “He used extraordinary methods to conceal shipments, paid bribes to facilitate his cocaine trafficking activities, used non-commercial aircraft to transport it, and laundered substantial profits that he collected through his network of companies and laundering professionals,” reads a document presented by prosecutors. The history of dirty money delivered by the businessman ranged from high-level officials of the defunct Federal Attorney's Office (PGR, now the Prosecutor's Office) to port chiefs and operators at the Mexico City International Airport.
By amassing experience over the years, El Tío established himself as an independent trafficker and expanded his connections with other criminal organizations, protected for years by El Chapo. He again interpreted the signs of change and began working with the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), when the group became the enemy of Sinaloa and took control of Jalisco, the State where he lived and where he was “a businessman.” recognized,” according to the Prosecutor's Office. He also worked with the Milenio Cartel, a direct predecessor of the CJNG that was allied with Sinaloa, and with Rafael Caro Quintero's clan, known as the narco of narcos.
In between, he had a brief foray into politics, paying for the campaigns of family members and those close to local officials. In 2013, he was arrested in Mexico, but was released from prison just two years later. He soon returned to the business from connections he made in prison. His lawyers defend that he did it out of necessity and when all doors had been closed to him to earn money legally. He fell four years later in an operation by the PGR, the instance to which he paid for protection, according to the judicial summary.
In 2021, Flores finally sat in the dock in the United States, under the threat of “overwhelming evidence” against him, which included testimonies from his former associates, recordings of his criminal activities and telephone interceptions. Always low profile, El Tío rejected the possibility of facing a jury trial to avoid the media spotlight and pleaded guilty in March of last year to the only charge against him: conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine (the minimum to be considered a serious crime).
Despite the admission of guilt, the Prosecutor's Office and Flores could not agree on fundamental issues of the case. Uncle and his lawyers maintained that he was a mere intermediary and claimed that the US authorities were exaggerating when describing him as a big boss. Furthermore, the accused defended that, although he had been involved in the transfer of cocaine, he had not trafficked more than 450 kilos throughout his criminal career. Prosecutors attributed more than 120,000 kilos to him.
Flores wanted to collaborate and sat with the authorities for two days to see if he could become a cooperator in exchange for receiving benefits on his sentence. But the agents never saw him as a reliable source: they accused him of fabricating evidence in the judicial process and of intimidating witnesses in court. When a person was testifying against him on the stand, El Tío stuck out his tongue at him as a gesture to stop him from saying too much. His lawyers said it was all a misunderstanding, that he had a tic nervous that I couldn't control.
El Tío's defense claimed that his client suffered har
assment in prison, that he was the target of ridicule and harassment for not speaking English, that he was beaten by his cellmate and that his advanced age warranted that he receive the minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. prison. They also said that the testimonies against them were “an amalgam of falsehoods.” At the opposite extreme, the Prosecutor's Office stated that life imprisonment was a “reasonable, appropriate and consistent with the severity of his crime” punishment and demanded that $680 million in profits be seized from him.
“For more than three decades, Raúl Flores Hernández worked with the leaders of the largest and most violent cartels in the world,” reads the statement from the US Department of Justice. In only a handful of hearings that went unnoticed, the case of El Tío, the boss who left no trace, brought to light the use of player transfers for money laundering; methods of drug trafficking on trains, ships and planes, and some glimpses of the complex network of political, business and drug contacts that allowed him to amass a fortune. But the case, which lasted more than six years, was just that: barely a brushstroke. In the end, the sentence was given, as was his arrest and his entire legal process, discreetly. How he wanted, how he always handled himself.
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