Mexican Cartel Leader Known As “Tony Montana” Sentenced for Armed Drug Trafficking
Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, 67, of Michoacán, Mexico, a career drug trafficker for several Mexican cartels, was sentenced Friday to 270 months in prison for international drug trafficking and firearm offenses. “For more than two decades, Antonio Oseguera Cervantes helped fuel one of the world’s most dangerous drug trafficking organizations, flooding America’s communities with deadly drugs while enriching himself and his associates,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Oseguera Cervantes’ sentence sends a clear message to criminals around the world that the Department of Justice is committed to the total elimination of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations, including the CJNG.” “The sentencing of Oseguera Cervantes demonstrates that no cartel leader is beyond the reach of American justice,” said Administrator Terry Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “Oseguera Cervantes was far more than El Mencho’s brother. He played a significant role in building CJNG into one of the most violent foreign terrorist organizations in the world, trafficking massive quantities of dangerous drugs that have devastated American families and communities. Together, DEA and the Homeland Security Task Force will stop at nothing to hold those who lead, finance and enable these cartels accountable.”According to court documents, Oseguera Cervantes distributed cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and supplied chemicals to methamphetamine laboratories, initially for the Milenio Cartel and later for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Oseguera Cervantes joined the Milenio Cartel in around 2002, shortly after serving a federal prison sentence for conspiracy to distribute heroin in the United States. He was then deported to Mexico, where he resumed his illicit activities. As a leader of the Milenio Cartel, he oversaw narcotics sales, protected cartel territories from rival groups, and supervised and maintained methamphetamine laboratories. In 2010, after the Milenio Cartel’s top leader was arrested, its military faction separated to create the CJNG. Oseguera Cervantes’s brother, Nemesio, also known as “Mencho,” was a co-founder of the CJNG, who led the cartel from its inception in 2010 until he was killed in a Mexican military operation in February 2026. Oseguera Cervantes reported directly to Mencho and worked with a CJNG-aligned cartel named Los Cuinis. Oseguera Cervantes also managed CJNG’s drug proceed collection and laundering and was armed with a pistol when collecting proceeds and attending meetings to discuss drug trafficking.Oseguera Cervantes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine for importation into the United States as well as using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy. The DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit Los Angeles investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance to Oseguera Cervantes’ February 2025 transfer from Mexico to the United States pursuant to Mexico’s national security law. The Justice Department thanks the Government of Mexico for its assistance in securing Oseguera Cervantes’ presence in the United States for prosecution.Chief Kaitlin Sahni of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit (NDDU) and Trial Attorneys Lernik Begian, Douglas Meisel, and Maryann McGuire of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) prosecuted the case.MNF’s 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.
