A Tijuana native man who led a massive fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking operation that flooded the United States with drugs has been sentenced to 20 years in a U.S. federal prison, the Department of Justice announced Friday, February 13.
Alejandro Salinas received the sentence in a California federal court after pleading guilty to participating in an international drug trafficking conspiracy. Prosecutors said Salinas headed a criminal organization that moved massive quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine across the border, using his hometown as the operational base.
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The case is part of a larger investigation into a drug trafficking network known as “La Oficina” (The Office), which U.S. authorities describe as operating a 24/7 illegal drug convenience store in Tijuana.
The store catered primarily to American customers and stocked a wide range of narcotics, with fentanyl and methamphetamine as the main offerings. “La Oficina” also ran a wholesale operation and provided home delivery services for drug users in San Diego County and elsewhere in the United States.
The organization relied on “runners”, typically U.S. citizens, who smuggled narcotics through official border crossings to fulfill customer orders.
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The organization operated continuously for at least five years, generating millions of dollars in revenue while trafficking hundreds of kilograms of fentanyl and other controlled substances into the United States.
Salinas held a leadership position within the organization from approximately 2020 to 2022, a period during which he and his co-conspirators exploited surging demand for fentanyl amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Tijuana storefront was shuttered and its merchandise seized in January 2024. Salinas and his accomplices had previously been charged and arrested in April 2023 following a coordinated operation involving Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.
