Leader of a Drug Trafficking Organization and Ally of the Sinaloa Cartel Sentenced

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release dated July 27, 2021, Luz Irene Fajardo Campos, aka “La Comadre,” “La Madrina,” and “La Doña,” 57, of Culiacan, Mexico, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison following a 2019 trial for her role in in an international drug trafficking conspiracy that included Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, and the United States.

According to the evidence introduced at trial, Fajardo Campos, along with her adult children, was aligned with the Sinaloa cartel, acquired cocaine directly from Colombia, and brokered the purchase of jets to fly the cocaine to Central America and Mexico. She also worked with other drug traffickers in the Sinaloa cartel to transport methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States.

Furthermore, Fajardo Campos paid bribes to law enforcement officials in Mexico and Colombia to import cocaine through an international airport and attempted to bribe public officials into arresting rival drug traffickers.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said of the crime, “Luz Irene Fajardo Campos and her organization imported into the United States large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine, bribing foreign law enforcement officers along the way, and then distributed those drugs across our communities. Her conviction and sentence demonstrate the department’s commitment to bring to justice those who pump dangerous drugs into our communities and fuel corruption in the process.”

Special Agent in Charge Cheri Oz of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Phoenix Field Division said, “Drug traffickers like Fajardo Campos tear at the very fabric of our communities. She made millions of dollars from pushing thousands of pounds of poison into Americans' communities while at the same time fueling violence and crime across the United States. Today, justice was served.”