Margarito Flores, Chicago Cocaine Kingpin Who Helped Bring Down El Chapo, Will Teach Cops How To Catch Drug Traffickers

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

Margarito Flores (right) and his twin brother, Pedro Flores, once were the biggest drug traffickers in Chicago. Now both out of prison, Margarito Flores is teaching law enforcement authorities how to fight the cartels and catch drug traffickers.U.S. Marshals Service

One of the notorious Flores twins is to lead a seminar at the Kane County sheriff’s office — “a rare chance for us to get into the mind of the people we are trying to find,” an official says.

 Pedro Flores Margarito Flores drug traffickers in Chicago cocaine

Margarito Flores (right) and his twin brother, Pedro Flores, once were the biggest drug traffickers in Chicago. Now both out of prison, Margarito Flores is teaching law enforcement authorities how to fight the cartels and catch drug traffickers.

Margarito Flores Jr. and his twin brother, Pedro Flores, once were the biggest drug traffickers in Chicago, importing a ton of cocaine into the country every month.

Over the years, the Flores twins brought in 60 tons or more, authorities say — and sent more than $1.8 billion in cash back to Mexico to pay for those drugs, putting them among El Chapo’s biggest customers.

Their luck ran out in 2008. That’s when they were ensnared by federal authorities and agreed to become informants for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration against Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, who ran the Sinaloa cartel.

Now free along with his brother after completing their 14-year prison terms, Margarito Flores will be teaching law enforcement authorities in the Chicago area how to catch narcotics traffickers. He’s scheduled to speak Sept. 25 at a one-day seminar titled “From Kingpin to Educator” at the Kane County sheriff’s office headquarters in St. Charles.

But the location could be changed based on turnout and safety issues, according to Sgt. Ryan Wasson, who oversees special investigations for Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain.

Why bring in one of the Chicago area’s most notorious criminals to teach cops?

“It’s a rare chance for us to get into the mind of the people we are trying to find,” said Wasson, whose officers work on a federal Homeland Security Investigations task force and have made large seizures of cartel drugs and cash and drugs.

“This relates directly to what we do,” Wasson said.

He said the only previous time he has gotten similar training from a high-profile criminal was from Rene “Boxer” Rodriguez, a Mexican Mafia prison gang leader in California.

Flores will speak to cops about “every aspect of the cartels, including distribution logistics, routes, concealment methods in vehicles and houses, command structure, [and] tactics used to elude law enforcement,” said Jeramy Ellison, owner of Dynamic Law Enforcement Training, the company organizing the seminar.

“Margarito found me on social media several months back and ‘liked’ my pro-law enforcement content in regards to narcotics and criminal interdiction,” Ellison said. “He is passionate about helping law enforcement.”

Flores will be paid for his teaching, Ellison said.

The seminar is open to 80 officers “but it’s possible to add more,” he said.

More classes featuring Flores are “in the works” in California, Texas and Oklahoma.

The DEA declined to comment.

Security for Margarito Flores is a concern not only because he and his brother were DEA informants but also because Pedro Flores ended up being the star witness against El Chapo at the 2019 trial in New York that ended with the cartel kingpin being sentenced to federal prison for life.

A courtroom sketch showing Margarito Flores (right) and his twin brother, Pedro Flores, appearing before then-U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo in Chicago in 2015.

A courtroom sketch showing Margarito Flores (right) and his twin brother, Pedro Flores, appearing before then-U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo in Chicago in 2015.

In 2015, when the twins were sentenced on drug charges in Chicago, U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo gave them a break for their cooperation but warned that their roles as two of the most important DEA informants in history would forever put them in peril.

“Every time you start a car, you are going to be wondering is that car going to start or is that car going to explode every single time for the rest of your life,” Castillo said.

The brothers’ father is presumed to have been killed after being kidnapped when he re-entered Mexico in 2019 despite U.S. officials warning him not to do so.

“Safety is always a top priority, and we have put preventative measures in place to ensure the safety of everyone involved, especially Margarito,” Ellison said of the seminar. 

“Unfortunately, we cannot disclose specific details about these measures or the location where the class will be held. It is important to note this class is only for sworn law enforcement officers.”

Though the Flores twins, who grew up in Little Village, are now free, their wives are looking at prison time for money-laundering for hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars of their husbands’ illegal drug profits to maintain their lavish lifestyles.

Vivianna Lopez, Pedro Flores’s wife, was sentenced earlier this month to three and a half years in prison.

Margarito Flores’ wife, Valerie Gaytan, is set to be sentenced Sept. 28 — three days after his training session for police officers.

Ellison said the timing was coincidental.

Vivianna Lopez (left) and Valerie Gaytan during an appearance on the CNBC show “American Greed” in 2021.

In 2017, the two women published the book “Cartel Wives” that described their high-flying, danger-filled world, which included living on Mexican mountaintop estate with servants and a menagerie of animals.

“Cartel Wives,” the a book by the Flores twins’ wives Vivianna Lopez and Valerie Gaytan subtitled “A True Story of Deadly Decisions, Steadfast Love, and Bringing Down El Chapo.”

Last year, the twins launched a podcast, produced by rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, called “Surviving El Chapo.”

Chicago Sun Times