FBI official says terrorism charges against Sinaloa cartel mark dramatic shift

A former FBI assistant director says the federal government is taking a “dramatically different approach” to how it approaches drug trafficking after several Sinaloa cartel leaders were slapped with terror-related charges.

Both Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, were charged with narco-terrorism, material support of terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering on May 13 as members of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), a faction of the Sinaloa cartel. Five additional BLO leaders were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering.

It’s the first time that cartel members have been hit with terrorism-related charges, which Chris Swecker, former assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, told Fox News Digital is intended to send a message.

“This administration is taking a dramatically different approach to fighting drug cartels, who are the most powerful criminal organizations on the planet right now,” Swecker said. “It is perfect for narco-traffickers because if you can go after anyone who supports these trafficking cartels and leaders and members in any way, if they give them a paperclip, if they provide financial support, if they work for them, they’re a hit man.”

SINALOA CARTEL LEADERS CHARGED WITH NARCO-TERRORISM AFTER AUTHORITIES SEIZE 1.65 TONS OF FENTANYL

View of burnt vehicles after heavily armed gunmen waged an all-out battle against Mexican security forces in Culiacan, Mexico, on Oct. 18, 2019. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)

“It also gives us some extra territorial punch, if you will. It gives us the ability, if we want to, to dip into foreign countries,” he said.

Swecker, who has run numerous investigations involving drug cartels, said the Trump administration’s decision to use terrorism charges expands the number of people who can be charged, and increases the potential penalties.

“This is a serious approach by treating them as terrorists. It increases the penalties that they’re exposed to. It ups the ante when it comes to extradition,” Swecker said. “It ups the ante when it comes to the seriousness of the charges. They can use RICO, they can use continuing criminal enterprise, they can use now material support to terrorist organizations, so now, all you have to do is be affiliated in any way with a drug cartel, and we can lower a 20-year sentence on you.”

On Feb. 20, the Trump administration designated the Sinaloa cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

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A truck on fire is seen on the streets of Culiacan, Mexico, on Sept. 11, 2024, during an escalation of violence after a Sinaloa cartel leader was arrested. (Ivan Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

Noriega allegedly worked closely with his son to “aggressively traffic” fentanyl into the United States, prosecutors said, adding that the two have led “one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world.”

The father and son trafficked “tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl” into the United States, according to federal prosecutors.

Mexican law enforcement officials raided several locations in Sinaloa that are managed and controlled by the pair, seizing over 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, including Noriega and Coronel, remain at-large.

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A total of 1,680 kilograms of cocaine seized in Mexico City. (DOJ)

Adam Gordon, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, sent a message to the cartel leaders during a press conference announcing the charges. 

“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.