A yearlong investigation by U.S. authorities in Kansas led to the arrest of a methamphetamine distribution cell tied to Mexico’s Los Viagras faction of the Familia Michoacana Cartel. The cartel cell is considered to be part of the violent cartel’s drug distribution operation which also has cells in Washington State and Georgia.

Court documents filed at the federal court in Wichita Kansas revealed that for more than a year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Kansas City Police targeted 57-year-old Luis Martinez Carrango and 13 of his associates tied to the widespread distribution of methamphetamine throughout the Midwest. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, during a recent raid targeting the cartel cell, agents seized 220 pounds of methamphetamine in the Kansas City Metro Area.

Michoacan-Kansas Indictment

While not revealed in court documents, Breitbart Texas consulted with U.S. and Mexican law enforcement sources to confirm that Luis Martinez’s cell is part of Los Viagras from Michoacán. Law enforcement sources identified him as the criminal organization’s main point of distribution in the area and a close associate of Cesar “El Boto or Marrueco” Sepulveda Arellano, one of the top leaders of Los Viagras in Michoacán.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the man known as El Boto is the same cartel boss who in August 2018 placed a $100,000 bounty on one of the writers of Breitbart Texas’s Cartel Chronicles Project, only to be arrested by Mexican Marines 40 hours later after authorities received information on his precise location at a house in the state of Morelos. Despite his arrest, El Boto’s cell within Los Viagras continues to operate in Michoacán producing and moving large quantities of methamphetamine into the U.S. At the same time, the entire cartel continues a fierce turf war with Mexico’s Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion over control of Michoacán’s shipping ports and drug production areas.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

Jose Luis Lara from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report.