NM man facing drug, murder charges after extradition
Jaime Renteria-Fernandez, 31, of Albuquerque, is charged in a superseding indictment with nine counts related to alleged offenses committed in support of the Barraza Drug Trafficking Organization, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Co-conspirator Alex Barraza was the leader of the drug-trafficking organization and was sentenced to life in federal prison Oct. 24, 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Renteria-Fernandez made his initial appearance in federal court on Thursday in El Paso.
The indictment includes multiple counts related to drug possession and trafficking, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, as well as discharging firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and murder resulting from the use and carrying of firearms during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years, with a maximum of life in federal prison, and possibly the death penalty, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Homeland Security Investigations El Paso is investigating the case with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Johnston, Andres Ortega and Susanna Martinez are prosecuting the case.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Afternoon Briefing: Chicago father becomes face of lawsuit against ICE
Good afternoon, Chicago. Abel Orozco was getting home after buying tamales for his family, like he did most weekends for the past 30 years. They would have breakfast and head to church. Instead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained the Mexican immigrant outside his home in suburban Lyons without a federal warrant. Now, nearly six months later, he is still detained. Immigration and civil rights attorneys argue that his arrest was not only unfair but illegal. Thanks to the video his son recorded of the arrest, Orozco has become the face of a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Attorneys say the two government agencies violated the constitutional rights of Orozco and at least 25 other people, including one U.S. citizen, during the first week of increased immigration enforcement in the Chicago area after President Donald Trump took office. Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History Former Commonwealth Edison lobbyist John Hooker was sentenced today to a year and a half in prison for his role in an elaborate scheme to funnel $1.3 million to associates of then-House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for the powerful Democrat's help with the utility's legislative agenda in Springfield. Read more here. More top news stories: With its new $71 million expansion, EGA Spectro Alloys in this southern suburb of the Twin Cities becomes one of only about 40 plants in the U.S. that can make recycled aluminum billets. Think 25-foot-long poles of solid aluminum. Read more here. More top business stories: Yuki Kawamura came to Las Vegas with a simple goal: get a contract. Read more here. More top sports stories: Mahari brings not just the vibrant cuisines of the African diaspora to Chicago, but chefs tracing their cultures and blazing their own paths, writes Tribune critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: More than 20 states sued President Donald Trump's administration today over billions of dollars in frozen education funding for after-school care, summer programs and more. Read more here. More top stories from around the world:
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
EU threatens countermeasures over US tariffs; Trump says he is open to talks
BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON – The European Union on July 14 accused the United States of resisting efforts to strike a trade deal and warned of countermeasures if no agreement is reached to avoid the punishing tariffs President Donald Trump has threatened to impose starting on August 1. More: Trump to send Ukraine weapons through NATO, threatens secondary tariffs on Russia Trump, meanwhile, said he was open to further discussions with the EU and other trading partners before new 30% tariffs kick in next month and that EU officials would be coming to the United States for negotiations. "They would like to do a different kind of a deal and we're always open to talk, including to Europe," he told reporters in the Oval Office. "In fact, they're coming over. They'd like to talk." Trump stepped up his trade war on Saturday, saying he would impose a 30% tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico next month, following similar warnings for other countries, including Asian economic powerhouses Japan and South Korea. The EU has so far held off on retaliatory measures to avoid a spiralling tit-for-tat escalation while there remains a chance of negotiating an improved outcome. But EU ministers emerging from a meeting in Brussels on Monday appeared closer to striking back. Speaking at a news conference following the meeting, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called the tariff threat "absolutely unacceptable." More: Trump announces 30% tariffs on Mexico, European Union EU Trade Chief Maros Sefcovic said he believed there was "still a potential to continue the negotiations" but voiced frustration with Washington's failure to agree to a deal with its largest trading partner. "As I said before, it takes two hands to clap," he said, adding that EU member states agreed that the 27-nation bloc would need to take countermeasures if the trade negotiations with the U.S. fail. Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani earlier said the EU had already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.5 billion) on U.S. goods if the two sides fail to reach a deal. Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on July 14 that she believed the two sides would reach a deal on security ahead of the August 1 deadline. The White House has clarified that the 30% tariffs on Mexico, which Trump has blamed for not doing more to stem the flow of fentanyl into the United States, would not apply to goods shipped under the USMCA trade agreement, which covers the vast majority of goods shipped from Mexico to the U.S. Sheinbaum said any agreement would not involve U.S. forces entering Mexican territory, as previously floated by Trump. European stocks dip White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said trade talks were still underway with the European Union, Canada and Mexico. Canada is facing a 35% tariff starting in August. The threatened duties have sounded alarm bells in Europe, notably in Germany, the EU's biggest economy. After Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday that a 30% tariff would "hit the German export industry to the core", the head of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry called for swift action. "The escalating tariff conflict with the USA poses a serious threat to many German companies," Volker Treier said on Monday. "Tough negotiations are now needed to avert a collapse of transatlantic trade." European industries, meanwhile, are preparing for the worst. Producers of Italy's renowned Chianti wine in Tuscany, for example, have demanded a new export strategy backed by the EU targeting alternative markets such as South America, Asia and Africa. Since returning to the White House earlier this year, Trump has sought to use an array of tariffs to boost the U.S. economy, push companies to invest in the United States and revitalize manufacturing. His initial "Liberation Day" tariff announcement in April, which set a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports and higher duties on certain products or countries, raised fears of global supply chain disruptions, sending shockwaves through markets. But subsequent U-turns and delays, including a 90-day pause on most duties aimed at allowing time for trade deal negotiations, have left investors largely inured to Trump's chaotic policy rollouts. European stocks fell on Monday, while U.S. indices were little changed in response to the latest salvo. European autos and alcohol stocks were among those hardest hit. Scrambling for deals The looming August 1 deadline has set off a scramble by governments around the world to seal trade agreements. South Korea's top trade envoy said on Monday it may be possible to strike a deal "in principle" by the deadline and signalled that Seoul may be open to allowing the U.S. greater access to its agricultural markets, local media reported. Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo, who held high-level talks with U.S. officials last week, said South Korea was seeking to avoid "unfair" U.S. tariffs on key sectors that would undermine industrial cooperation with its main security ally and trading partner, media reports said. "I believe it's possible to reach an agreement in principle in the U.S. tariff negotiations, and then take some time to negotiate further," the Newsis news agency quoted Yeo as telling local media reporters. "Twenty days are not enough to come up with a perfect treaty that contains every detail," he added. South Korea is in a race to reach a compromise trade pact in the hope of avoiding a 25% tariff slapped on its exports, the same level faced by Japan.
Newsweek
4 hours ago
- Newsweek
ICE Arrests Cuban Man Convicted of Hijacking Plane in 2003
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A man who hijacked a Cubana Airlines plane is among those recently taken into custody by federal immigration agents, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Adermis Wilson-Gonzalez, a 56-year-old Cuban national, hijacked a Cubana Airlines Antonov 24 aircraft carrying passengers from Cuba to Key West, Florida in 2003. He was convicted in the United States that year for the crime and spent nearly two decades in jail before being released in 2021. Why It Matters The arrest comes as President Donald Trump directs immigration authorities to arrests migrants without legal status as he looks to fulfill his promise of mass deportations. The White House has said anyone living in the country unlawfully is a "criminal." What To Know In the spring of 2003, Wilson-Gonzalez, armed with a grenade, attempted to direct the pilot to fly the plane from Cuba's Isle of Youth to Miami. Due to insufficient fuel to cross the Florida Straits, the pilot made an emergency landing at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. After a 14-hour negotiation, Wilson-Gonzalez was detained and 22 passengers were permitted to disembark. The aircraft resumed its flight to Key West, Florida, with 25 passengers and six crew members aboard, accompanied by U.S. fighter jets. No one was injured in the incident. File photo shows ICE agent conducting enforcement operations. Inset shows Adermis Wilson-Gonzalez, a 56-year-old Cuban national, who hijacked a Cubana Airlines Antonov 24 aircraft carrying passengers from Cuba to Key West, Florida in 2003. He... File photo shows ICE agent conducting enforcement operations. Inset shows Adermis Wilson-Gonzalez, a 56-year-old Cuban national, who hijacked a Cubana Airlines Antonov 24 aircraft carrying passengers from Cuba to Key West, Florida in 2003. He was convicted in the United States in 2003 for the crime and spent nearly two days in jail before being released in 2021. More ICE/AP Wilson-Gonzalez was one of 1,361 individuals arrested in the Houston area last month who had entered the United States illegally and are either facing criminal charges or have prior criminal convictions, ICE said. Among those arrested were 32 individuals convicted of child sex offenses, nine convicted of homicide-related crimes, and 16 identified as members of transnational gangs or drug cartels, according to ICE. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston field office also apprehended Arnulfo Olivares Cervantes, a 47-year-old Mexican national and former member of the Mexicles gang who was arrested on June 13. According to ICE, Olivares Cervantes has entered the United States illegally six times and has multiple convictions, including two for trafficking cocaine, as well as convictions for attempted murder, evading arrest, illegal entry, and drug possession. Luis Pablo Vasquez-Estolano, 29, a Mexican national who has been deported six times, was arrested on June 10. Vasquez-Estolano has previous convictions for homicide, aggravated robbery, burglary of a vehicle, and drug possession, ICE said. Jose Meza, a 40-year-old Mexican national, was arrested on June 24. ICE reported that Meza has illegally entered the U.S. four times and has been convicted of sexual assault of a minor and theft. Javier Escobar Gonzalez, 51, also from Mexico, was arrested on June 23. According to ICE, Escobar Gonzalez has been convicted of sexual indecency with a minor, criminal trespass with a deadly weapon, driving while intoxicated, and unauthorized use of a firearm. Police surround the hijacked AN-24 Cuban Airlines aircraft as it is refuelled Tuesday, April 1, 2003 at the Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia) Police surround the hijacked AN-24 Cuban Airlines aircraft as it is refuelled Tuesday, April 1, 2003 at the Jose Marti Airport in Havana, Cuba. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia) AP Photo/Jose Goitia What People Are Saying ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez said in a statement: "Despite attempts by some to undermine our mission by spreading false and malicious rumors, the brave men and women of ICE continue to work tirelessly around the clock targeting dangerous criminal aliens to restore integrity to our nation's immigration system and bolster public safety in our communities." "The number of dangerous criminal aliens that they removed from local communities across Southeast Texas last month is just another example of their selfless and unyielding efforts to return our local communities to places where we can all raise our families without having to worry about child predators, gang members, or other violent criminal aliens preying on our loved ones." Adermis Wilson-Gonzalez, speaking after he completed his prison sentence for the hijacking, according to the Havana Times: "I have nothing to reproach the US government for, because I don't think their punishment was unjust. I committed a crime, they found me guilty of breaking the laws, and I served my time right up to the last day, with respect for this country. For the first time since I was born, I'm a free person, because in Cuba I was never free."
