Cartel Member Pleads Guilty Mid-Trial to Fentanyl Trafficking and Money Laundering Offenses

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A member of the Jalisco New Generacion Cartel (“CJNG”) pleaded guilty on October 28, 2025, to fentanyl trafficking and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.

After two days of trial testimony before U.S. District Court Judge Madeline H. Haikala, Juan Francisco Castaneda, also known as “Pariente,” 44, pleaded guilty to all counts charged in the superseding indictment, including conspiring to traffic fentanyl, conspiring to commit money laundering, and distribution of fentanyl. The charged crimes occurred in the Birmingham and Homewood area.

According to the evidence presented at trial and in support of Castenada’s guilty plea, Castaneda ran his drug trafficking and money laundering organization with the use of contraband phones while he was serving multiple life sentences for murder at the Alabama Department of Corrections’ Bullock Correctional facility. Castaneda used a network of couriers and local businesses as “fronts,” from which he arranged fentanyl distribution and collected drug proceeds. Undercover operations revealed that Castaneda was laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars to CJNG sources in Mexico through these couriers and businesses.

According to Court documents, Castaneda previously pleaded guilty to a 2008 multi-homicide in Shelby County, in which five individuals were murdered over a cartel debt.

“Cartel activity has no place in Alabama. Those who traffic dangerous drugs in our communities will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Escalona.  “This case demonstrates our unwavering commitment to dismantling criminal organizations that endanger our communities. I commend our federal, state and local law enforcement partners for their hard work and dedication in bringing this defendant to justice.”

“This case delivers a decisive blow against the Jalisco New Generacion Cartel (CJNG) and their ruthless network operating in Alabama,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Hofer, New Orleans Division. “CJNG is responsible for flooding our communities with deadly amounts of fentanyl and using criminal schemes, like money laundering from within prison, to fuel their enterprise. This guilty plea is a clear victory for public safety and a testament to the fact we will use every resource available to neutralize these transnational criminal organizations and hold every one of their operators, from the streets to the cartel leadership, fully accountable.” 

“This case underscores the devastating impact of transnational criminal organizations like the Jalisco New Generacion Cartel have on our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama Steven N. Schrank. “Homeland Security Investigations remains steadfast in its commitment to dismantling these dangerous networks, disrupting their operations, and bringing their members to justice. Through collaboration with our federal, state, and local partners, we will continue to leverage every resource to protect the American people from the scourge of fentanyl trafficking and the criminal enterprises that fuel it.”

As part of his plea, Castaneda has agreed to forfeiture of a money judgment in the amount of $700,000.

Castaneda is scheduled to be sentenced on January 8, 2026.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance is life in prison. The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit money laundering is 20 years in prison.     

The DEA and HSI investigated the case, along with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service, United States Marshals Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, Hoover Police Department, Birmingham Police Department, Bessemer Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Alabama Department of Corrections, and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allison Garnett and Carson Gilbert are prosecuting the case.

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 United States 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. The Alabama HSTF comprises agents and officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, and the Internal Revenue Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.