A man has been arrested in San Diego in connection with a murder of a man in a Miami Springs hotel that occurred on November 29, 2022.
According to an arrest report, 35-year-old Jimmy Sanchez was arrested Thursday and later taken into custody in Miami-Dade County on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
The arrest warrant from Miami-Dade Police states that Sanchez flew into Miami on the night of the murder and met up with Tsia Kol, who police described as a known high-ranking Sinaloa cartel member that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.
The warrant states that Kol rented out a room on Nov 29, 2022, at the Aladdin Hotel on 901 S. Royal Poinciana Boulevard in Miami Springs to meet up with 46-year-old Julio Gonzalez.
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Police say Gonzalez showed up at the hotel after arranging a meeting with Kol via an Instagram chat.
Moments later, police said they received a call from the hotel at around 11:23 P.M. from Gonzalez and when the dispatcher asked him if he needed help, he responded “Yes, urgent” before the call dropped.
The dispatcher called back and heard a struggle in the background and Gonzalez saying the words “no, no, no” followed by the sounds of an apparent gun shot, the police said.
Despite the call, Miami Springs police arrived at the hotel around 11:36 PM but were unable to locate the disturbance and did not submit a report, the warrant states.
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The following day, the hotel manager went into the room to collect overdue rent and found Gonzalez lying in a pool of blood, according to the warrant.
The warrant also says that the autopsy report determined that Gonzalez cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the death a homicide.
Detectives said they interviewed Gonzalez’s ex who revealed that prior to the murder, Gonzalez had posted a screenshot photo of “Sapir Kol’ – later determined to be Tsvia Kol – with a caption stating “If something happens to me, it’s her.”
According to the warrant, a Hialeah police detective informed the Miami-Dade Police that Gonzalez was a suspect of drug trafficking after authorities found 11 pounds of crystal meth sent to an address in Hialeah Gardens associated with Gonzalez.
Police said they interviewed Gonzalez, after surveillance video showed him searching for the package, and he told detectives that he was approached by a homeless man who told him that “four Mexican looking men were looking for him at the casino, because he had a package for them.”
The Hialeah Police detective informed MDPD that Tsvia Kol is a known high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel member with a history of international organized crime that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering and that her ex-husband, Wilfredo Nunes Gallardo, is also a high-ranking member of the cartel, the arrest warrant said.
Police did not release information on the whereabouts of Tsvia Kol.
Sanchez is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Center as of Friday.
