11 people charged for drug trafficking, kidnapping and conspiracy in the Twin Cities

According to a news release from the Department of Justice in Minnesota, 11 people have been charged for their alleged ties to an organization with connections to the cartel.

The Department of Justice says the 11 charged people were part of a drug trafficking organization that, from July 2023 through January 2025, would bring large amounts of methamphetamine from Mexico to the Twin Cities.

After the drugs were brought in, the members would reportedly break the methamphetamine down into smaller quantities to be sold.

This group’s actions were reportedly discovered in January 2025 in St. Paul when police uncovered a kidnapping, reportedly ordered by the cartel, to capture, injure and possibly kill a man who owed them money.

Court documents said police received a tip that 30-year-old Richar Sanchez Mujica was involved in drug trafficking.

St. Paul officers later arrested Mujica in St. Paul for an outstanding warrant, during which officers said they found photos of a man beaten and handcuffed in a basement on Mujica’s phone.

Asking about the photos, Mujica first claimed that he had not taken them, saying someone else must have used his phone to take them while asleep. He then claimed he was given drugs and didn’t remember what had happened, reportedly telling police he was being forced to work due to owing his bosses $6,000.

When asked if he thought harm or death would come to the man in the basement, Mujica said, “Yeah, probably.”

Officers then went to the 700 block of Payne Avenue, where they found the man in the photo injured, as well as two other people, who were arrested for their alleged role in the suspected kidnapping.

Since then, others believed to be in the same drug trafficking group as the alleged kidnappers have also been arrested.

Those charged named by the Department of Justice include:

• Richar Sanchez Mujica, 30, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to kidnap and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
• Donovan Rey Lopez, 21, of Minneapolis, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
• Erling Soren Holdahl, 48, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to kidnap.
• Dostin Elizander Ortiz-Garcia, 29, of Burnsville, Minnesota, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
• Jonathan Salvador Juarez-Ferrer, 25, of Minneapolis, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
• Timothy Duane Ripley, 45, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to kidnap.
• Kendra Sue Johnson, 39, is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to kidnap.

The four other people who have been charged were not identified by the Department of Justice, who said they had not yet made their initial appearances in court.