U.S. officials announced a first-in-the-nation indictment to charge alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel with narco-terrorism and material support of terrorism in connection with trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin into the United States. The charges come as part of President Donald Trump’s February Executive Order 14157, which designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the Secretary of State’s subsequent designation of the same.
The U.S. Attorney Office of Southern California announced on Tuesday that Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, have been charged with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering as key leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), a powerful and violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that is believed to be the world’s largest known fentanyl production network. Five other BLO leaders have also been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering.
The Beltran Leyva faction is known as one of Mexico’s most brutal drug trafficking groups, frequently resorting to shootings, murders, kidnappings, torture, and violent methods to collect drug debts and maintain control.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi emphasized that the Sinaloa Cartel operates like a terrorist group and must be treated as such. She vowed a strong legal response, including pursuing life sentences for its leaders to end their violence against Americans.
According to U.S. officials, Inzunza Noriega and his son are responsible for trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl into the United States—moving tens of thousands of kilograms in recent years. They are believed to run one of the world’s largest and most advanced fentanyl production networks. In December 2024, Mexican authorities raided multiple sites in Sinaloa linked to the pair, seizing over 1,500 kilograms—more than 1.65 tons—of fentanyl, marking the largest fentanyl bust ever recorded globally.
U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon praised Trump’s Operation Take Back America, promising not to allow cartel-driven drug trafficking to target American communities.
“Operation Take Back America initiatives reflect the reality that narco-terrorists operate as a cancer within a state,” Gordon said in a statement. “They metastasize violence, corruption, and fear. If left unchecked, their growth would lead to the death of law and order. This indictment is what justice looks like when the full measure of the Department of Justice, along with its law enforcement partners, is brought to bear against the Sinaloa Cartel.”
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