U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) highlighted the role of its Knoxville office in a multinational investigation that resulted in July federal indictments against two alleged high-ranking members of the United Cartels, a major methamphetamine trafficking organization based in Michoacán, Mexico.
According to ICE, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Knoxville led the investigation as part of a Homeland Security Task Force effort targeting the cartel’s leadership and trafficking networks.
The alleged United Cartels members, 31-year-old Juan Jose “Juanjo” Farias Mendoza (pictures above) and 37-year-old Israel “Papo” Vega Farias are both from Tepalcatepec, Michoacán, Mexico.
ICE identified Farias Mendoza as the son and Vega Farias as the nephew of Alvarez, also known as “El Abuelo,” whom the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged alongside four other senior United Cartels members in August 2025.
ICE said the investigation is part of Operation Pelican Bones, an effort launched in 2020 to “disrupt and dismantle a violent transnational criminal organization.”
The agency said the operation into the men began after a 2019 car crash in a small town in East Tennessee prompted a drug investigation, which evolved into a multinational effort involving federal, state, and international law enforcement agencies.
ICE said Operation Pelican Bones has resulted in “significant seizures of drugs and precursor chemicals, forfeiture of funds, and indictments of high-level cartel members.”
The United Cartels is described by ICE as one of the world’s most significant methamphetamine producers, with the capability of manufacturing multiple tons of methamphetamine each month. The organization distributes drugs through U.S. hubs including Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Kansas City, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago, according to the agency.
The U.S. Department of State designated United Cartels a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist in February 2025.
Farias Mendoza and Vega Farias are accused of conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine for importation into the U.S., providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using, carrying or possessing firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, during or in relation to alleged drug trafficking.
They face a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.
Acting HSI Executive Associate Director John Condon said the indictments demonstrate HSI’s continued efforts to identify and investigate cartel leadership and networks.
“The United Cartels have fueled violence, addiction, and instability both in the United States and abroad. Through the Homeland Security Task Force’s whole-of-government approach, HSI is committed to identifying and investigating cartel leadership and their networks, wherever they operate,” Condon said.
The case is being investigated by HSI Knoxville in coordination with the DOJ Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
