A father-son drug-dealing duo of the Sinaloa Cartel has been indicted on first-of-its-kind narco-terrorism charges.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Pedro Inzunza Noriega and son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, and five other members of the Sinaloa faction Beltran Leyva Organization, took part in narco-terrorism, money laundering, and the trafficking of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin into the U.S.
USA: The US government has indicted leaders of the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) with charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking, marking the first such accusation in the nation.
Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, are central to this indictment.… pic.twitter.com/kiojwWpW7f
— Crime Intel (@WorldCrimeIntel) May 14, 2025
The narco-terrorism charges stem from the Trump administration officially recognizing the Sinaloa Cartel a foreign terrorist organization. The administration also applied the designation to foreign gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
“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 narco-terrorism charges carry up to life in prison with a 20 year mandatory minimum and $20 million fine, according to the DOJ.
“Operation Take Back America initiatives reflect the reality that narco-terrorists operate as a cancer within a state,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California, where the indictment was issued. “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.”
The DOJ noted that over 1.65 tons of fentanyl were seized after Mexican law enforcement raided multiple Sinaloa locations controlled by the father-son duo on Dec. 3, 2024, marking “the largest seizure of fentanyl in the world.”
