The indictment follows Trump’s executive order earlier this year designating the Sinaloa cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
Federal authorities have charged alleged leaders of the Sinaloa cartel’s Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) with narco-terrorism, terrorism support, and international drug trafficking in what officials called a first-of-its-kind indictment targeting the cartel’s role in fueling the U.S. fentanyl crisis.
Sinaloa BLO is a powerful and violent faction of the Sinaloa cartel that is believed to be the world’s largest known fentanyl production network, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“The Sinaloa Cartel is a complex, dangerous terrorist organization and dismantling them demands a novel, powerful legal response,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Their days of brutalizing the American people without consequence are over—we will seek life in prison for these terrorists.”
The indictment follows President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14157, which designated the Sinaloa cartel as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. The Sinaloa cartel itself is referred to by the U.S. Government as “one of the most powerful and violent criminal organizations currently operating in the Republic of Mexico, with distribution cells throughout the United States.”
The new charges mark the first time BLO leaders have been prosecuted under narco-terrorism and terrorism statutes tied to fentanyl trafficking, according to DOJ.
Pedro Inzunza Noriega, 62, and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, 33, are accused of leading the large-scale fentanyl production and trafficking operations, according to the indictment unsealed on May 13. They face life in prison if convicted on the narco-terrorism charge alone.
Officials allege the father-son duo worked closely to manufacture and ship tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin into the United States. A December 2024 raid on cartel-controlled sites in Sinaloa uncovered 1,500 kilograms of fentanyl—described by the DOJ as the largest single seizure of the drug in the world.
“Their drugs not only destroy lives and communities, but also threaten our national security,” said FBI acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi.
By Chase Smith
