Mexican drug lord Beltrán Leyva sentenced to life in U.S. prison

A former leader of the Beltrán Leyva Mexican drug-trafficking cartel that bears his name was sentenced on Wednesday to life in a U.S. prison for participating in an international narcotics trafficking conspiracy, the Justice Department said.

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, 46, also known as Mochomo, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington to forfeit $529 million, the Justice Department said.

Since the 1990s, the Beltrán Leyva Organization, together with the Sinaloa Cartel, directed a drug transportation network that shipped tons of cocaine and methamphetamines into the United States, U.S. law enforcement officials said.

At its peak, the Beltrán Leyva Organization dominated drug trafficking in western Mexico and was responsible for "countless murders," they said.

"Alfredo Beltrán Leyva is one of the Goliaths of Mexican drug traffickers known for his savage business tactics and responsible for flooding the United States with illegal drugs," said James Hunt, special agent in charge, of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Beltrán Leyva was arrested by Mexican special forces in early 2008 in what his brothers Héctor and Arturo reportedly believed to be a sell-out by the rival Sinaloa gang. Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the Sinaloa gang's former leader, was extradited to the United States in January and is awaiting trial in a New York jail, after having escaped twice from Mexican custody.