43 Mexican drug cartel members indicted

The Justice Department announced Thursday indictments against 43 members of a leading Mexican drug cartel, though most of the top drug traffickers remain fugitives.

Among those indicted, but not captured, is Jaoquin Guzman-Loera, leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel. The cartel is one of the chief suppliers of cocaine to America.

Guzman has been called “Mexico’s most-wanted man” and appeared this year on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires with a net worth estimated to be $1 billion.

Mr. Guzman has already been under U.S. indictment on drug charges since the early 1990s.

The 12 new indictments, unsealed in federal courts in Brooklyn and Chicago, charge Guzman and others with running one of Mexico’s most powerful drug organizations since 1990. Authorities say they trafficked more than 200 tons of cocaine into the U.S. and took $5.8 billion back across the border.

“Today’s indictments demonstrate our unwavering commitment to root out the leaders of these criminal enterprises wherever they may be found,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said. “We will continue to stand with out partners in Mexico to dismantle the cartels’ insidious operations.”