United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Note: View the Indictment.

ALBUQUERQUE – Towanda Thorne R. James-Thorne, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's DEA El Paso, Division, Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Amy Lueders, Acting Deputy Director of Operations for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced today that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging David Mendoza-Enriquez with conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits the transport and sale of certain wildlife, in connection with the tiger cub seized in Albuquerque early last year. Mendoza-Enriquez, aka “Cholo,” 40, of Albuquerque, was also one of 15 defendants charged with drug trafficking in a separate superseding indictment.

According to the indictment, between Nov. 20, 2022, and Jan. 10, 2023, Mendoza-Enriquez conspired with others to import the tiger cub from Mexico into New Mexico and sell it for thousands of dollars.

On January 10, 2023, the Albuquerque Police Department, with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located and seized the tiger cub in Albuquerque after responding to an unrelated call. The tiger cub, now named “Duke,” was transferred to the ABQ BioPark, and later to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado.

An indictment is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Mendoza-Enriquez faces up to 5 years in prison.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated this case with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Rio Rancho Police Department, the Pojoaque Pueblo Police Department, the Laguna Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico State Police, the United States Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The investigation was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, a Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Hirsch and Joseph Spindle are prosecuting the case.

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