US Attorney General’s office on Tuesday announced it was charging top leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel with narco-terrorism for the first time after the Trump administration declared a foreign terrorist organisation.
The indictment which was unsealed in the office of the U.S. Attorney Southern District of California charged the Sinaloa Cartel leaders with material support of terrorism in connection with trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the US.
The attorney’s office said this indictment is the “first in the nation.”
The Sinaloa Cartel rose to prominence in the 1990s and 2000s under the notorious Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. He is currently incarcerated in Colorado serving his life sentence.
El Chapo’s accomplice Ismael Mario Zambada, also known as “El Mayo” has been in US custody since July 2024 but has not yet been tried.
Zambada was reportedly the head of one faction of the Sinaloa Cartel until his capture, while El Chapo’s sons, known as the “Los Chapitos,” headed another faction of the Cartel.
The indictment has named the current Sinaloa Cartel leaders Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel.
The father-son duo as key leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organisation (BLO), a powerful faction of the Cartel that run the largest known fentanyl production network in the world. They are accused of narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering.
Besides, five other members of the BLO have also been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering.
The US Department of State declared the Sinaloa Cartel as a foreign terrorist organisation on February 20.
“The Sinaloa Cartel is a complex, dangerous terrorist organisation and dismantling them demands a novel, powerful legal response. Their days of brutalising the American people without consequence are over — we will seek life in prison for these terrorists,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
The BLO is accused in the indictment of operating “with violent impunity, trafficking in deadly drugs, threatening communities, and targeting key officials, all while making millions of dollars from their criminal activities,” the US Attorney remarked. The group is said to control many territories and plazas throughout Mexico, including Tijuana.
The U.S. Attorney added that all the defendants face a sentence ranging from 20 years to life in prison. They are all fugitives, according to officials.
Meanwhile, Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch on Tuesday confirmed a report by independent journalist Luis Chaparro that 17 family members of Ovidio Guzman Lopez crossed into the US last week. This was reportedly part of a deal between a son of the former head of the Sinaloa Cartel and the Trump administration.