MIAMI SPRINGS, Fla. – A suspected member of a notorious Mexican drug cartel flew from San Diego to South Florida and met up with a woman — a “high-ranking member” of the same outfit — to carry out an “execution” at a “couples-only” hotel near the Miami International Airport, according to police.
Authorities said Julio Gonzalez, 46, of Hialeah Gardens, was shot and killed at the Aladdin Hotel, located at 901 S. Royal Poinciana Blvd. in Miami Springs — about a block away from the airport — on Nov. 29, 2022.
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No arrests in the case had been made until suspected Sinaloa cartel member Jimmy Sanchez, 36, of Spring Valley, California, was taken into custody. A source tells Local 10 News that he was caught by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the U.S.-Mexico border.
His arrest form states he was jailed in San Diego before being taken into custody in Miami-Dade County Thursday on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
According to an arrest warrant from the Miami-Dade Police Department, Sanchez flew into MIA the night of the killing, rented a car and drove to Hallandale Beach.
That’s where police said he met with Tsvia Kol, described in the arrest warrant as “a known high-ranking Sinaloa cartel member with a history of international organized crime syndicate that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.”
Kol, 35, is the ex-wife of Wilfredo Nunes Gallardo, another high-ranking member of the Sinaloa cartel, police said.
The criminal organization was once run by the infamous Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
The warrant states Sanchez followed Kol from south Broward to the Aladdin Hotel to meet with Gonzalez in room 304.
Kol had arranged to rent the room for 12 hours, police said. The warrant states that Kol and Gonzalez had arranged the meeting over text.
Video showed Kol brought Gonzalez to the hotel in a Kia sedan, while Sanchez, arrived at the hotel with a man identified solely as “Torres.”
At around 11:23 p.m., police received a 911 call from Gonzalez that said “In Aladdin Hotel.” When asked if he needed help, police said he simply said, “Yes, urgent” before the call dropped.
Dispatchers called back and heard a struggle in the background, police said, followed by the words “no, no, no” and an apparent gunshot, police said.
According to the warrant, Miami Springs police arrived at the hotel at 11:36 p.m. and were unable to locate the disturbance.
At around 9 a.m. the following day, the hotel manager went to room 304, which was by then an overdue rental, and walked in to find Gonzalez “lying in a pool of blood,” police said. He was shot twice in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said an interview with Gonzalez’s ex revealed that five days before the killing, Gonzalez had posted a photo of “Sapir Kol” — later determined to be Tsvia Kol — with the caption, “If something happens to me, it’s her.”
A Hialeah police detective later called Miami-Dade police after seeing a “seeking information” flyer on Gonzalez’s killing and revealed that the victim had been involved in the drug trade, according to the warrant.
He told MDPD investigators that on Nov. 16, 2022, about two weeks before the killing, authorities had intercepted a package containing 11 pounds of crystal meth, destined for Gonzalez’s Hialeah Gardens apartment.
Police surveilled Gonzalez’s home and saw him “searching for the package that he never received” and later interviewed him prior to his death.
The warrant states that Gonzalez told detectives that “four Mexican looking men were looking for him at the casino, because he had a package for them.”
The Hialeah detective also informed MDPD about the suspects’ connections to the Sinaloa cartel, police said.
While authorities captured Sanchez, Kol is not listed in any jail or court records and a source told Local 10 News that “Torres” remains on the run.
Sanchez was being held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Friday evening.