Alleged lieutenant of “El Chapo” arrested while vacationing

Members of Mexico's federal police and the Army arrested Juan Manuel Álvarez Inzunza, better known as “King Midas”, accused of laundering money for the criminal organizations led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera "El Chapo" and Ismael Zambada García, aka “El Mayo Zambada”.

Álvarez, 34, was arrested in Oaxaca while vacationing.

Authorities said that Álvarez placed proceeds from illegal activities such as drug trafficking and extortion in companies, currency exchange brokers and straw men in Sinaloa and Jalisco. He could have laundered between 300 and 400 million dollars a year, i.e. more than four billion dollars in the last decade.

He is also believed to be linked with an international money laundering network operating in cities like Tijuana, Culiacán and Guadalajara, and other nations such as Colombia, Panama and the United States.

The Federal District Court in Washington issued an arrest warrant against him for the crime of money laundering.

Álvarez was taken to the Assistant Attorney General's Office for Special Investigations on Organized Crime (SEIDO) in Mexico City.