Guatemala's "The Iceman," alleged drug lord tied to Sinaloa Cartel, extradited to Texas, officials say

A plane arrived in North Texas Thursday night carrying a suspected drug kingpin from Central America, who federal authorities have been trying to bring to the U.S. for more than eight years, known in Guatemala as "The Iceman" or "El Hielero."

He was one of four alleged drug traffickers extradited from Guatemala by Jay Combs, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, to face charges in the U.S.

When a Drug Enforcement Administration jet arrived at McKinney National Airport carrying Juan Carlos Cruz Ovalle, it marked the end of a nearly decade-long effort by Combs to bring him to justice.

"It's an important day," Combs said. "It's definitely an important day. We've been trying to get Mr. Ovalle for about eight years. So today we got him and we're bringing him to justice."

Who is Juan Carlos Cruz Ovalle, known as "The Iceman"?

Cruz Ovalle has been linked to international drug trafficking by U.S. authorities for years.

In December 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department identified him as a key drug trafficking associate of Erik Salvador Suniga Rodriguez, a former Guatemalan mayor known as "El Pocho," and the Suniga Rodriguez drug trafficking organization. 

Federal authorities said the organization focused on smuggling cocaine into the United States and that Suñiga Rodriguez supplied cocaine to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Cruz Ovalle and three other Guatemalan nationals under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act for providing material support to Suniga Rodriguez and his organization. The U.S. also said Cruz Ovalle had previously been arrested in Guatemala in 2013 on murder, attempted murder and charges related to association with a drug trafficking group.

Guatemalan anti-narcotics authorities arrested Cruz Ovalle again on April 7, 2020, in Tecún Umán, near the country's border with Mexico, on a U.S. extradition request. Guatemala's Ministry of the Interior said he was wanted in the Eastern District of Texas on drug trafficking charges.

According to the Guatemalan government, Cruz Ovalle was an alleged member of a drug trafficking organization operating across South, Central and North America. Authorities said he allegedly served as a coordinator who arranged for cocaine shipments to be received in Guatemala and then transported into Mexico.

Extradition to North Texas

The four men are accused by federal authorities of operating a major criminal drug network that included corrupt mayors and politicians in Guatemala, which Combs has been working with the government there to dismantle. 

"We're interested not just in going after the drug kingpins, we've gone after a number of kingpins in Guatemala, and elsewhere around the world," Combs said. "We're also going after the corrupt politicians."

Combs was on board the extradition flight that ended with the defendants, who have already been indicted in the U.S., facing drug charges that could send them to prison for life. 

"I would say it's an extremely big deal," Combs said. "Individuals who ship cocaine into the United States have to do it through Guatemala."

From here, the four suspected traffickers will be transported by federal agents to a secure detention facility until they make their expected first appearance in front of a judge on Friday morning in a Plano federal courtroom.