FBI says fugitive caught in Mexico after 9 years on the run — but his wife and another co-conspirator are still at large
A fugitive wanted for his involvement in a criminal drug enterprise has been extradited from Mexico and returned to Tucson, but his wife and another co-conspirator remain at large, the FBI said Monday.
Authorities said 45-year-old Manuel Gortari-Redondo was involved in a Tucson-based interstate drug smuggling organization that trafficked marijuana to the Nebraska chapter of the notorious "Bloods" street gang from June 2006 to July 2011.
Gortari-Redondo and seven other co-conspirators were arrested in August 2011.
The FBI said that on the third day of trial in June 2013, Gortari-Redondo failed to appear in court but the trial continued without him.
He was sentenced to 162 months in prison for money laundering, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and other charges.
FBI officials said Gortari-Redondo was taken into custody in Mexico City and extradited to Tucson last month.
Gortari-Redondo's co-conspirators ― his wife, Sandra Mendivil-Redondo, and another man named Mario Carmona Rodriguez ― are still at large, the FBI said. There is a $3,500 reward offered for each of them.
"The extradition of Mr. Gortari-Redondo is an example of how the FBI will pursue justice beyond U.S. borders no matter how long it takes," said Akil Davis, special agent in charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office.