00:00These four defendants conspired to traffic military-grade machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and mortar launchers from the Czech
00:08Republic to Mexico via the United States.
00:11The defendants wanted to use these weapons in Mexico, again, against the Mexican police, the military, and the population in
00:18their attempts, and I can't emphasize this enough, their attempts to control organized crime in Mexico and to terrorize its
00:25people.
00:25And they were going to pay for these weaponry with fentanyl and methamphetamine that was destined to be smuggled into
00:32the United States.
00:34They failed.
00:35Through the efforts of these organizations that we have behind me, they failed, and they were thwarted in what they
00:42were attempting to do.
00:44By way of background, and this is laid out in the indictment, the defendants went to the Czech Republic between
00:50the 9th and the 10th of June to negotiate and inspect the sale of the weapons to purchase in exchange
00:56for fentanyl and methamphetamine.
00:59Of course, before they were able to obtain this weaponry and before they were able to smuggle this fentanyl and
01:04methamphetamine, they were caught in the act, and they were arrested, apprehended, in the Czech Republic.
01:09They were arrested the day after they came into the country, on June the 11th of 2026, and literally the
01:18next day, in conjunction with the Mexican authorities, federal law enforcement, shut down a fentanyl lab that was run by
01:25the defendant, Diaz Jimenez, which was, as I said, in Mexico.
01:29All of these defendants face life in prison.
01:32What about the court procedures that we have to date?
01:35Today, there are four defendants involved, two have been extradited to the United States, and yesterday, we had initial appearances
01:42in court here in Tampa for Lopez Velasco and Alvarado Morales, two of the four CJNG members, and those two
01:52individuals were detained.
01:54The two other individuals are pending extradition from the Czech Republic.
