A reputed high-ranking Mexican cartel figure pleaded not guilty in Chicago on Wednesday to an indictment alleging he conspired to traffic massive quantities of cocaine into the U.S. and launder drug proceeds shipped back to Mexico.
Norberto Valencia-González, also known as “Socialitos” or “Socialite,” was extradited to Chicago last week as part of a historic prisoner transfer with Mexico as the administration of President Donald Trump turned up the pressure on drug-trafficking organizations.
Valencia-González, an alleged financial guru affiliated with the once-powerful and notoriously violent Beltrán-Leyva cartel, was accused in a seven-page indictment with trafficking activity that took place between 2013 and 2017 in Chicago and nearby areas, including Arlington Heights, Morris and Plainfield.
He pleaded not guilty in a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Weisman and was ordered held in custody pending a bond request, which his attorney, Michael Leonard, said he would file before the district judge at a later date.
Another cartel figure sent to Chicago, José Ángel Canobbio-Inzunza, an alleged aide and security chief for the Sinaloa cartel once headed by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, also pleaded not guilty last week.
In all, Mexico sent 29 drug cartel figures to the U.S., including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, the FBI’s most wanted drug trafficker, who was behind the killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.
The unprecedented show of security cooperation came as top Mexican officials were in Washington, D.C., trying to head off the Trump administration’s threat of imposing 25% tariffs on many Mexican imports. Those tariffs went into effect Tuesday, roiling financial markets and setting off promises of retaliation.
Meanwhile, Valencia-González and Canobbio-Inzunza are the latest high-profile cartel figures to face trial in Chicago. Also charged here are Joaquín Guzmán López and his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, both sons of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
