An Indiana beauty queen was caught up in a major drug bust with ties to a Mexican cartel that has been years in the making.
Glenis Zapata, 34, who was crowned Miss Indiana Latina in 2011, allegedly used her job as a flight attendant to move drug money from Chicago to southern states and Mexico, according to a federal indictment.
She is charged with two counts of money laundering stemming from transporting cash worth $170,000 on August 7, 2019 and at least $140,000 on September 10, 2019.
Zapata was one of 18 suspects arrested when federal police detained their main target, Oswaldo Espinosa, who was among the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) most wanted fugitives.
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Glenis Zapata, who was crowned Miss Indiana Latina in 2011, was arrested as part of an international drug operation based in Mexico. (Photograph by Rio Wray)
Zapata, along with two bank tellers, Zapata's sister, Ilenis Zapata and Georgina Bañuelos, were the last to be arrested in the arrest of Oswaldo Espinosa by the Task Forces against Organized Crime (DEA). English).
Espinosa is the alleged leader of a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking ring based in Mexico that flooded the streets of the United States with thousands of kilograms of cocaine, according to the latest federal indictment filed on May 16.
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From 2018 to 2023, Espinosa recruited seemingly ordinary and unnoticed workers, like Zapata, as part of his alleged criminal enterprise, which used warehouses and garages throughout the Windy City to hide money and drugs.
Cash and cocaine were loaded onto semi-trailer trucks and onto airplanes from Midwest hideouts to the southern United States and Mexico, “including via commercial flights and with the assistance of Glenis Zapata,” the indictment alleges.
Oswaldo Espinosa was a fugitive wanted by the DEA and allegedly ran a multi-million dollar international drug trafficking organization based in Mexico. (DEA)
Glenis Zapata is accused of using her job as a flight attendant to transport more than $300,000. (Photograph by Rio Wray)
Espinosa was the head of his own Mexican international drug trafficking organization (OTD) called Espinosa DTO, according to court documents.
The last file, which included the charges against Zapata, detailed eight drug trafficking operations from 2021 to 2023 and 15 cash transports between November 2019 and March 2022.
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The investigation into Espinosa was led by the Organized Crime Anti-Drug Task Force, which was created to target major drug trafficking networks in the United States.
ESPINOSA's DTO is a small cartel compared to powerhouses such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel, which control almost all of Mexico and its seaports and spread their tentacles throughout the United States.
Glenis Zapata was charged with two counts of federal money laundering. (Photograph by Rio Wray)
Court documents detail eight alleged drug trafficking operations between 2021 and 2023. (Justice Department )
In total, researchers estimate there are around 150 Mexican cartels of various sizes with around 175,000 “active members” (as of 2022), according to a September 2023 Science study.
And many of these organized crime syndicates extend their illegal businesses into the United States and smuggle drugs and money across the border.
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A DEA report from May said Mexico's “most powerful and ruthless cartels,” the Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa cartels, operate in all 50 states.
The main products of both cartels are methamphetamine and phenanthyl, according to the report, which says the Mexican cartels have “caused the worst drug crisis in the history of the United States.”
DTO Oswaldo Espinosa allegedly carried out 15 cash transports between November 2019 and March 2022, according to federal court documents. (Justice Department )
DTO Oswaldo Espinosa allegedly carried out 15 cash transports between November 2019 and March 2022, according to federal court documents. (Justice Department )
Dismantling major drug operations is one of the primary goals of federal law enforcement agencies.
In 2023, law enforcement agencies within 150 miles of the border made nearly 600 bulk cash seizures valued at $18 million, according to the DEA report.
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“The DEA's top operational priority is to relentlessly pursue and defeat the two Mexican drug cartels… that are primarily responsible for driving the current fentanyl poisoning epidemic in the United States,” the report says.
The operation “dedicates resources to America's cities hardest hit by violence and overdoses to target violent dealers who kill thousands of Americans each week with fentanyl and guns.”
