Latest news with #PedroInzunzaCoronel
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Time of India
‘No longer the hunters, you're the hunted': US indicts Sinaloa Cartel leaders on narco-terrorism charges
Representative image (Picture credit: ICE) Two top leaders of a violent faction within Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel have been indicted on unprecedented narco-terrorism charges after allegedly trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl into the United States. Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, are now facing terrorism-related offences in a federal case unsealed on Tuesday, as announced by US attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. The pair are accused of leading 'one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world,' said Gordon, who warned cartel leaders during a press briefing, 'You are no longer the hunters. You are the hunted.' The indictment is the first by the department of justice's newly formed Narco-Terrorism Unit and follows the Trump administration's designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in February, under Executive Order 14157. According to the news agency Associated Press, this is a rare move as such labels are typically reserved for politically motivated terrorist groups. The father-son duo, along with five other leaders of the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO), a powerful offshoot of the Sinaloa Cartel, have been charged with narco-terrorism, providing material support to terrorism, drug trafficking , and money laundering. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Finger Shape Says a Lot About Your Personality, Read Now Tips and Tricks Undo The BLO has long been known for its brutal tactics including kidnappings, torture and murders, and operates with violent impunity across Mexico and Central America, including Tijuana. Federal officials, citing court documents, allege the Inzunzas trafficked 'tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl' into the US. On December 3, 2024, Mexican law enforcement seized more than 1.65 tons of fentanyl from locations in Sinaloa tied to the duo, reportedly the largest fentanyl seizure globally, according to ICE. 'These charges highlight the unwavering efforts of transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel to flood our communities with deadly drugs,' said Shawn Gibson, ICE HSI 's San Diego special agent in charge. The case stems from 'Operation Take Back America,' a nationwide DOJ initiative to dismantle cartels and transnational crime . US attorney general Pamela Bondi declared, 'Their days of brutalizing the American people without consequence are over, we will seek life in prison for these terrorists.' FBI San Diego's acting special agent in charge Houtan Moshrefi added that the cartel's activities 'not only destroy lives and communities, but also threaten our national security.' Other indicted cartel leaders include Fausto Isidro Meza Flores ('Chapo Isidro'), Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe ('El Musico'), and Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar ('El Chapito'). All remain fugitives. Pedro Inzunza Noriega, also known as 'Sagitario,' reportedly operates from Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and is paralysed following a past attack by rival cartel members, as per AP. The charges carry penalties ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment, including multimillion-dollar fines. The case is being prosecuted by assistant US attorneys Joshua Mellor and Matthew Sutton.
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Sinaloa cartel leaders charged with narco-terrorism after authorities seize 1.65 tons of fentanyl
Two leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel were hit with narco-terrorism charges on Tuesday for their involvement in allegedly trafficking "massive" amounts of drugs into the United States, according to federal officials. Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, were both named in an unsealed federal indictment on Tuesday and charged with narco-terrorism, material support of terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering as members of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), which is a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Five other BLO leaders were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering. The charges come after the Trump administration designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on Feb. 20. Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Noriega works closely with his son to both produce and "aggressively traffic" fentanyl into the United States. They allege that the two have led "one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world." Authorities said that the father and son have trafficked "tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl" into the United States. According to federal prosecutors, Tuesday's indictment is the first of its kind from the Department of Justice's newly formed Narco-Terrorism Unit. On Dec. 3, 2024, Mexican law enforcement officials raised several locations in Sinaloa that are controlled and managed by the pair, seizing more than 1.65 tons of fentanyl. Indictments are also pending against members of the BLO and Sinaloa Cartel, which include Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe, Pedro Inzunza Noriega, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, Ismael Zambada Sicairos and Jose Gil Caro Quintero. All individuals, as well as Noriega and Coronel, remain at-large. Adam Gordon, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, had a message for members of the Sinaloa Cartel during a press conference on Tuesday. "Let me be direct: To the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, you are no longer the hunters. You are the hunted. You will be betrayed by your friends. You will be hounded by your enemies, and you will ultimately find yourself and your face here in a courtroom in the Southern District of California," Gordon said.
New York Times
13-05-2025
- New York Times
Prosecutors Charge Sinaloa Cartel Operatives With Terrorism Crimes
Federal prosecutors in Southern California filed narco-terrorism charges Tuesday against two leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, accusing them of offering material support for terrorism in connection with their alleged efforts to smuggle large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the United States. The indictment filed in Federal District Court in San Diego was the first time that prosecutors had accused operatives of the Sinaloa cartel of terrorism crimes since the Trump administration designated the group a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. The indictment charged a father and son — Pedro Inzunza Noriega, 62, and Pedro Inzunza Coronel, 33 — with violating terrorism statutes while running a drug business that reached from Mexico to Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica. The two men were leaders of the Beltrán-Leyva faction of the cartel, prosecutors said, and were named in the indictment with five of their subordinates, who were not accused of terrorism offenses. The nine-page charging document did not include any details about how the men had engaged in the alleged narco-terrorism. It remains to be seen whether the case against them will reveal any evidence supporting the terrorism charges that go beyond the administration's decision to identify the Sinaloa cartel as a terrorist organization. Trump administration officials have also designated other criminal mafias as terrorist groups, including Mexican drug gangs like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and more traditional street gangs like Tren de Aragua, which is based in Venezuela, and the Salvadoran group known as MS-13. Over the past several years, prosecutors claim, Mr. Inzunza Noriega and his son trafficked tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the United States. In December, they said, Mexican law enforcement officials raided multiple locations in Sinaloa that were controlled and managed by the men, discovering nearly 20 million doses of the drug in what was described as a record seizure. At the time, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said the operations were part of a long investigation and had resulted in 'the largest mass seizure of fentanyl pills ever made.' She added that the operation had seized more than a ton of fentanyl pills worth nearly $400 million. U.S. law enforcement officials have generally supported the idea of designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations — if only because it gives prosecutors the ability to charge cartel defendants under powerful federal statutes that often carry stiff penalties. But prosecutors have not yet had to defend such charges in court and may face pushback not only from defense lawyers, but also from judges overseeing such cases. Prosecutors have traditionally relied on drug conspiracy charges to go after cartel operatives. Last week, for example, Ovidio Guzmán López, one of four sons of the former Sinaloa cartel leader known as El Chapo, indicated in court papers that he planned to plead guilty in July to a sprawling charge known as a continuing criminal enterprise.
