A man described by prosecutors as the leader of a San Diego and Tijuana-based drug trafficking organization has been extradited to the United States to face federal charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Aaron Leib Kobisher, 34, was arrested in Spain earlier this year and brought to San Diego on Monday, where he faces allegations of trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine.
According to prosecutors, Kobisher’s organization is linked to a June 2021 seizure of powdered fentanyl that was the most concentrated powdered fentanyl ever tested in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Southwest Laboratory.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Kobisher coordinated the smuggling of drugs from Mexico into San Diego for distribution in the United States.
He allegedly fled to Mexico last year, but was arrested in Madrid in June, where prosecutors say he had boarded a plane headed for Mexico City.
Kobisher is one of six defendants charged in an indictment filed in San Diego. Five of the six defendants have been arrested.
“Fentanyl is deadly in all forms, but one of the seizures in this case packed an extraordinary punch,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement. “Getting fentanyl out of the hands of drug traffickers — especially the most potent versions — no doubt saves many lives.”
City News Service contributed to this article.