The Narco Blog

U.S.-Born ‘El Tochín’ Admits Smuggling 50 Kilos of Cocaine a Week Through California’s Imperial County for Sinaloa Cartel Faction

By The Narco Blog · September 24, 2026 · Updated September 30, 2026

Packages of seized cocaine stacked at the Calexico East cargo port of entry in California — File photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection cocaine seizure at the Calexico East cargo port of entry, Calexico, Calif., Aug. 1, 2013. Not related to the Rueda Torres case. Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

A 49-year-old Mexicali man known as “El Tochín” has pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court to running a cocaine pipeline that moved about 50 kilograms a week through Imperial County, California, for more than a decade. City News Service reported the plea on Sept. 17, 2026, and the Imperial Valley Press reported it on Sept. 19. Gerardo Julio Rueda Torres admitted in his plea agreement that he was a leader of Los Rusos, which prosecutors described as an armed faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.

What he admitted

The Imperial Valley Press, reporting on the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement, said Rueda Torres pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to launder money (case 24-cr-2617-RSH). According to the plea agreement as those outlets described it, his subordinates drove cocaine hidden in passenger vehicles through Imperial County border crossings. From there the drugs went to hubs in Los Angeles, Arizona and beyond. The Imperial Valley Press said the pipeline moved tens of thousands of kilograms in total.

He also admitted laundering cartel drug money for nearly 20 years. According to the Imperial Valley Press, he started by personally driving about $30,000 across the border and later ran a network of couriers who moved up to $500,000 per trip. Hoodline reported on Sept. 18 that the investigation traces back to a May 2017 traffic stop in which more than $1 million in cash was found hidden in a vehicle’s spare tire.

Arrested in a Mexicali casino

Mexican authorities arrested Rueda Torres in December 2024 inside the Hooro casino in Mexicali, about 800 meters from the city’s main police base, Latin Times reported at the time. Latin Times and the Imperial Valley Press both reported that he was born in California, which made it easier to hand him over to U.S. authorities. At the time of his arrest, Latin Times reported that authorities believed he was behind an attack on Agustín Jaime Brambila, a deputy director of Mexicali’s public safety agency. He has not been charged with that attack in the U.S. case, and that allegation has not been proven.

What comes next

Sentencing is set for Dec. 4, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie, according to the Imperial Valley Press. The drug conspiracy count carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison. The money laundering count carries up to 20 years. The case came out of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation targeting cartel networks along California’s border.

Sources

Reported Sept. 24, 2026, from the published news accounts listed above. The Narco Blog did not review the plea agreement or court filings directly. Rueda Torres has not yet been sentenced.