Mexico detains suspected cartel leader facing US terror charges

Mexican forces detained a suspected drug trafficking leader facing US terrorism charges, government sources said Wednesday.

Authorities captured Pedro Inzunza Noriega in Sinaloa state in northwestern Mexico.

Washington indicted Inzunza Noriega in May, accusing him of directing a major smuggling operation that moved fentanyl, cocaine and heroin across the border.

Prosecutors described him as holding a senior position within the Beltran Leyva Organisation, a group they say emerged from the Sinaloa cartel but has since collapsed.

The charges against Inzunza Noriega represent the first time US officials applied terrorism statutes to a cartel figure, according to the Justice Department.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in May the charges reflected a new legal strategy against Mexican trafficking organisations. Prosecutors would seek maximum sentences for defendants, she stated.

The May charges followed Trump's executive order classifying the Sinaloa cartel as a foreign terrorist entity. The US State Department adopted this designation in February.

The US president has also designated fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.

Hundreds of kilos of fentanyl

US federal authorities alleged Inzunza Noriega collaborated with his son to manufacture and distribute synthetic opioids on an industrial scale, moving thousands of kilograms into the country over several years.

Mexican authorities raided multiple properties in December 2024, seizing approximately 1,650 kilograms of fentanyl from sites allegedly controlled by the father and son. Officials described this as the largest single recovery of the drug recorded globally.

Naval forces killed Inzunza Noriega's son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, during operations in Sinaloa in November.

Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said naval personnel conducting searches encountered armed resistance. Coronel died in the resulting clash while two other suspects were captured.

Trump has pressed Mexico City to expand counter-narcotics operations since taking office last year, warning of potential trade penalties if cooperation proves insufficient.

Five additional figures linked to the Beltran Leyva Organisation face prosecution for trafficking and financial crimes in the same case.

Prosecutors described the organisation as employing extreme violence including killings, abductions and physical coercion to maintain control over smuggling routes and territories across Mexico.