Suspected Sinaloa Cartel members charged in plot to smuggle cocaine to Chicago

Five reputed members of the Sinaloa Cartel were charged in federal court in a plot to transport larges amounts of cocaine to the Chicago area.

Three of those charged are believed to be in Mexico, but one man, Louis Reyes Velez of Stickney, was arrested Tuesday in Cicero, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Velez traveled to Chicago in 2018 in an attempt to arrange the cocaine shipment, but was unaware that two of the people he dealt with were working with U.S. law enforcement, according to prosecutors. Velez pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday.

Another of the charged men, Velazquez Martinez, was arrested in October 2019 in Lima, Peru and extradited in December 2020 to the U.S. He also pleaded not guilty.

Camilo Alvarez, 44, Hernandez Ramirez, 36, and Ines Chavez Rodriguez, 36, are believed to still be living in Mexico, prosecutors said.