US Federal officials said Tuesday that two Sinaloa Cartel leaders were charged with narco-terrorism for allegedly smuggling “massive” quantities of cocaine into the United States.

In an unsealed federal indictment filed Tuesday, Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, were accused of narco-terrorism, material support of terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering as members of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), a branch of the Sinaloa Cartel. Five further BLO leaders were accused with money laundering and narcotics trafficking.

The accusations follow the Sinaloa Cartel’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on February 20 by the Trump administration.

Who are the other cartel leaders under indictment?

In court filings, prosecutors said that Noriega collaborates closely with his son to manufacture and “aggressively traffic” fentanyl into the US. According to their accusations, the two have been in charge of “one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world.”

The father and son are accused by authorities of smuggling “tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl” into the US. The charge Tuesday is the first of its sort from the Department of Justice’s recently established Narco-Terrorism Unit, federal officials said.

On December 3, 2024, Mexican law enforcement officers seized more than 1.65 tons of fentanyl from multiple Sinaloa locations under the pair’s possession and management.

The BLO and Sinaloa Cartel members Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe, Pedro Inzunza Noriega, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, Ismael Zambada Sicairos, and Jose Gil Caro Quintero are also awaiting indictments. Noriega and Coronel are still at large, along with the other individuals.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Adam Gordon, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, had a message for the Sinaloa Cartel.

“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.

How has Trump’s 2025 cartel strategy evolved?

In 2025, President Donald Trump significantly ramped up the U.S. war on drug cartels, especially the ones working in Mexico and Latin America. The new strategy is a dramatic departure from past approaches, combining hardline law enforcement, military gestures, and radical policy shifts. 

In February 2025, the Trump administration formally designated eight major Latin American cartels, six of them Mexican, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). This action gives the U.S. government greater counterterrorism authority, including the power to conduct covert operations and use military assets against such groups.

The U.S. has expanded its military presence, with the 7th Special Forces Group holding combined training with Mexico’s top Naval Marine Corps. CIA surveillance drone sorties, authorized by Mexico, have provided reconnaissance on cartel operations. The administration is also considering direct military action, such as possible drone strikes against cartel targets in Mexico. Although talks with Mexican officials continue, unilateral clandestine operations have not been excluded.