Two narcos implicated in the kidnapping of 44 undocumented migrants were found guilty and sentenced yesterday to prison terms of 18 and 37 years.

Mario Alberto “El Comandante Chacas” Flores Soto was found guilty of drug trafficking, organized crime, human trafficking and carrying unauthorized weapons.

The federal Attorney General’s office said in a statement that Flores was sentenced to 37 years and six months and ordered to pay a fine of almost 304,000 pesos, close to US $16,100.

One of Flores’ accomplices, Armando Velázquez Cantú, was found guilty of the same crimes and sentenced to 18 years and 9 months behind bars, and ordered to pay a fine of just under 30,000 pesos, or about $1,550.

The two men were arrested almost 11 years ago in southern Mexico between the port cities of Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos as they traveled through the town of San Juan Guichicovi, Oaxaca.

Flores was a high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel in 2005 when he was ordered to kidnap the migrants in the Tamaulipas city of Nuevo Laredo.

Flores received orders from Miguel Treviño Morales, also known as El Z-40, whom he served as a close collaborator. Back then the Zetas organization had yet to split off and form its own cartel, and served as the armed branch of the Gulf Cartel.