Ediel López Falcón (born 1973/1974),ópezFalcó also known as La Muela or Metro 5, is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was the regional boss of Miguel Alemán and helped coordinate international drug trafficking shipments from South and Central America to Mexico and the U.S. His roles in the cartel were also to coordinate oil theft operations. In 2012, he was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for drug trafficking activities. After fleeing Mexico to avoid gang-related violence, López Falcón was arrested in Texas during a sting operation in 2013. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2015. He is currently imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix in New Jersey. His expected release date is in 2029.
Early life and career
Ediel López Falcón was born in in Mexico. He was a high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He worked under a faction known as Los Metros. His code name was "Metro 5" ("M-5"). López Falcón also went by the alias "La Muela" (). López Falcón rose through the ranks of the cartel after several of his bosses were arrested or killed in the 2010s. He became the regional boss of Miguel Alemán, a city across the U.S.-Mexico border from Roma, Texas, from where he oversaw drug trafficking operations from Tamaulipas to Texas, and oil theft operations. In 2010, the Gulf Cartel and their former paramilitary group Los Zetas broke ties, triggering high levels of gang violence across Mexico. In 2011, Gulf Cartel members killed Los Metros chief Samuel Flores Borrego ("Metro 3"), which intensified the violence, starting a series of internal battles within the cartel. Several members of the Gulf Cartel were arrested or killed during this time, while others, like López Falcón, sought safe haven and relocated to the U.S with their families.
According to a sealed indictment sworn in by a grand jury of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C.) on 7 May 2012, sometime in or around 2000 and up until February 2010, López Falcón and other members of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas conspired with intent to distribute at least of cocaine and of marijuana into the U.S. from Colombia, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico and elsewhere. This information was legally gathered by U.S. officials who intercepted López Falcón's phone conversations with other drug traffickers, where he discussed cocaine and marijuana shipments, procurement of firearms, and the smuggling of bulk cash. For his drug charges, López Falcón was ordered to forfeit all money and properties derived from these drug proceeds, as well as any properties used to facilitate his operations. If such properties could not be located, were sold or transferred to a third-party, or largely diminished in value, López Falcón was ordered to forfeit other assets to make up for the total amount of said property. This indictment was unsealed in court on 9 May 2013.
Arrest and trial
On 18 September 2013, López Falcón was arrested by U.S. authorities when walking out of a PlainsCapital Bank in Pharr, Texas. He was arrested as part of a sting operation that originated from an indictment issued by the D.D.C. against Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas leaders for their involvement in drug trafficking. On 25 September, an identity verification hearing was held before judge Dorina Ramos in McAllen to prove the man in question was indeed López Falcón. The confusion arose after López Falcón was identified as Ediel López García at the moment of his arrest, which meant his name did not match the individual charged in the D.D.C indictment. In addition, the name in his indictment was nearly identical to that of former deceased cartel leader Edelio López Falcón ("El Yeyo"), who was also the regional leader of Miguel Alemán. His moniker "La Muela" was also used by Jaime or Javier Alejandro Pérez, another Gulf Cartel member in Matamoros wanted on U.S. drug charges.