Leaders of La Nueva Familia Michoacana and Atlanta-Based Money Launderer Indicted

Siblings Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga, also known as “El Pez,” “Pescado,” and “Mojarra,” 52, and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, also known as “El Fresa,” “El Feyo,” and “La Fruta,” 41, both of Guerrero, Mexico, and co-leaders of the La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM) drug cartel, were charged by a federal grand jury seated in the Northern District of Georgia with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl knowing those controlled substances would be imported into the United States, conspiracy to import those controlled substances into the United States, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute those controlled substances.

The indictments were returned in September 2024 and recently unsealed. Prior to his indictment, Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga was designated as a Consolidated Priority Target (“CPOT”) by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) program. Both Hurtado Olascoaga brothers are fugitives believed to be residing in Mexico. In addition, today the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced new sanctions against Johnny and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga and their siblings, LNFM members Ubaldo Hurtado Olascoaga and Adita Hurtado Olascoaga. On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of State also announced the designation of LNFM as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (“FTO”) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (“SDGT”). Additionally, the Department of State announced a Narcotics Rewards Program offer of up to $5 million and $3 million, respectively, for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of Johnny and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga.

Franco Tabares Martinez, 51, of Guerrero, Mexico, a high-ranking member of LNFM was charged by a federal grand jury seated in the Northern District of Georgia with conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and related substantive counts of drug trafficking. The indictment was unsealed against Franco Tabares Martinez on July 7, 2023, after which he was sanctioned by OFAC. On June 20, 2024, his brother Uriel Tabares-Martinez was also sanctioned by OFAC. Another brother, Pablo Tabares Martinez, pleaded guilty on January 13, 2025, to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Their sister, Guadalupe Tabares Martinez, also known as “Yosel Medrano Hernandez” and “Lupe,” 48, of Mableton, Georgia, has now been charged by a federal grand jury seated in the Northern District of Georgia with conspiracy to commit international money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money services business, and related substantive counts. The indictment was returned on April 8, 2025, and recently unsealed.

“Today’s indictments and OFAC sanctions against high-ranking LNFM cartel members sends a clear message: if you contribute to the death of Americans by peddling poison into our communities, we will work relentlessly to find you and bring you to justice,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

“These cartel members are allegedly responsible for importing massive amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl from Mexico to the Atlanta area and across the United States, and then wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from distributing those drugs back to Mexico,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr.  “These federal indictments, in conjunction with the imposition of OFAC sanctions, send a strong message that we will tirelessly investigate, prosecute, and defund individuals around the globe who choose to import deadly drugs into, and risk the lives of the members of, our communities.”

“Today’s action underscores our commitment to intensify the pressure on violent drug cartels like LNFM, who continue to traffic deadly fentanyl and other drugs, smuggle illegal aliens over our Southwest border, and attack law enforcement,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.  “The Trump administration will continue to use all available tools to target the cartels and other violent organizations that attempt to exploit our communities and harm Americans.”

“President Trump has promised to crack down on the flow of deadly drugs into our country,” said Senior Bureau Official F. Cartwright Weiland of the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). “And today, working with the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of State is delivering on that promise by offering rewards totaling up to $8 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the Hurtado brothers.”

“Cases like this exemplify the value of partnerships,” said Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “The volume of dangerous drugs and violence impacts our communities beyond comprehension. This investigation and subsequent indictments demonstrate DEA’s commitment to protecting our community by destroying these drug trafficking organizations.”

“The indictment of senior leaders of this brutal Mexican cartel and subsequent OFAC sanctions makes one thing clear, we are coming after these criminal networks and utilizing every weapon in our arsenal,” said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and Alabama. “Through aggressive interagency coordination, HSI and our law enforcement partners are not only seizing their drugs and arresting their members, but we are also cutting off their money, dismantling their infrastructure, and bringing their leaders to justice. This operation underscores our unwavering commitment to protecting our communities and dismantling the criminal enterprises that profit from violence and addiction.”

According to Acting U.S. Attorney Moultrie, the indictments, and other information presented in court: In 2021, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) and the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) began an investigation of LNFM cartel members importing methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl into the United States, including into the Northern District of Georgia.  As part of the investigation, agents identified Franco Tabares Martinez as a then-high-ranking member of the LNFM cartel who allegedly distributed multi-kilogram quantities of methamphetamine in the metro Atlanta area.

In addition, agents identified Franco Tabares Martinez’s sister, Guadalupe Tabares Martinez, as an Atlanta-based money laundering allegedly helping her brother and other drug traffickers by picking up bulk currency and then using her money service business, Noyola Multiservice, to transmit those drug proceeds to drug trafficking associates in Mexico. Through the investigation, agents also identified Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga and Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga as the cartel’s co-founders and kingpins, who conspired with cartel members in Mexico and throughout the United States to import heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl across the U.S./Mexico border for distribution in various cities and states, including Atlanta, Georgia.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictments only contain charges.  The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendants’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laurel Milam and Bethany Rupert are prosecuting the case against the Hurtado Olascoaga brothers, Franco Tabares Martinez and Guadalupe Tabares Martinez.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morrison with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia provided valuable contributions to the investigation of Guadalupe Tabares Martinez.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi¬ jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

The specific mission of the David G. Wilhelm Atlanta OCDETF Strike Force (the Strike Force) is to degrade and dismantle major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations (DTMLOs) in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the Northern District of Georgia. To accomplish this mission, the Strike Force will target these organizations’ leaders, focusing on targets designated as Consolidated Priority Organization Targets (CPOTs), Regional Priority Organization Targets (RPOTs), and their associates.  The Atlanta Strike Force is comprised of agents and officers from ATF, DEA, FBI, HSI, USMS, USPIS, and IRS; as well as numerous state and local agencies, and the prosecution is being led by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia recommends that parents and children learn about the dangers of drugs at the following websites: www.justthinktwice.gov; www.operationprevention.com/; and www.dea.gov/onepill.