Member of Mexican drug-trafficking organization sentenced to 20 years

A man whom prosecutors say had a leading role in a drug-trafficking organization that ran a Tijuana convenience store that sold drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine was sentenced in San Diego federal court to 20 years in prison on Friday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the now-shuttered storefront operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week for at least five years, and was responsible for moving “hundreds of kilograms of fentanyl and other controlled substances into the United States.”

Drugs were sold out of the Tijuana store and also smuggled into the United States by “runners” to users and distributors, including some in San Diego County, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Alejandro Salinas, 48, of Tijuana, had a leadership role in the organization dubbed  “The Office” from about 2020 to 2022, prosecutors said.

In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors wrote that Salinas’ duties within the organization included “manning the sales desk at the Tijuana store location and communicating with San Diego-based drug dealers to facilitate drug orders and runners into the U.S.”

Salinas and other members of The Office were indicted in 2023 and the Attorney General of Mexico seized and closed the Tijuana store in January 2024. Salinas later pleaded guilty to participating in an international conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Among Salinas’ alleged co-conspirators is his cousin, Juan Carlos Alonso Reyes, who was amo...