Recently, Mexico detained Pedro Inzunza Noriega, who is reportedly a high-ranking official of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), which is currently considered one of Mexico’s most violent organized crime organizations. Notably, this detention is significant as it represents the first large-scale application of Mexico’s newly enacted laws governing national security and law enforcement, expanding the types of charges that can be brought against top leadership within organized crime groups, and bringing Mexico closer to using international counter-terrorism standards.
This case is significant as it will be the first time that narco-terrorist statutes have been used to charge a member of a cartel
Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice charged Inzunza Noriega with drug trafficking and with providing material support to terrorism, a charge that has rarely, if ever, been levied against a member of an organized crime group. Additionally, Mexico’s new enforcement legislation, which was passed late in 2025, enables Mexican authorities to prosecute the leaders of organized crime groups for similar crimes.
The Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO) is a faction that separated from the Sinaloa Cartel; however, the BLO has experienced a significant decline in recent years. Nevertheless, due to their continued reliance upon violence to protect and preserve control over smuggling routes, including kidnapping and murder, the BLO remains a formidable force within organized crime in Mexico.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Inzunza Noriega and his son oversee the production of synthetic opioids (fentanyl) on an industrial scale and transport thousands of kilograms of fentanyl across the US-Mexico border. In December 2024, Mexican authorities confiscated 1,650 kilograms of fentanyl from properties owned by Inzunza Noriega’s family, the largest seizure of fentanyl in history.
There is growing pressure from the US government to take action against organized crime in Mexico
Early in 2025, US President Donald Trump declared the Sinaloa Cartel a foreign terrorist organization and designated fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. Both of these actions enabled the US government to apply terrorism charges against members of organized crime groups.
According to US Attorney General Pam Bondi:
“The charges against Pedro Inzunza Noriega are part of a novel, powerful legal response to dismantling trafficking organizations.”
She stated that she would seek life prison terms for anyone found guilty under this new framework.
Mexico’s efforts to detain Inzunza Noriega reflect the larger goal of improving the two countries’ bilateral security relationship
Trump had previously threatened to impose trade sanctions on Mexico if it did not increase its counter-narcotics operations.
Mexico’s new laws permit authorities to consider the acts of cartel members as terrorism if their actions include extreme violence or threats to public safety. In addition, the laws expand the investigative powers of authorities, permitting them to investigate money laundering and cross-border operations more aggressively.
Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch stated:
“The detention shows our determination to make full use of all legal tools available to us to combat organized crime.”
and that the new legal framework gives authorities greater flexibility to prosecute cartel leaders who previously avoided prosecution by having multiple charges filed against them.
Domestically, this is seen by many analysts as a major win in Mexico’s fight against organized crime, as it was a successful apprehension of one of the top members of the Sinaloa Cartel. Many analysts also believe that charging high-ranking members of these criminal organizations with terrorism-related crimes could serve to deter others who would aspire to take on leadership positions in those organizations, because they will face greater risks of being charged.
It is anticipated that once this case has been resolved, it will provide insight into whether or not the new legislative framework is effective, and what type of implications it will have for how cartel leaders are prosecuted in the future. The apprehension of Inzunza Noriega is a tangible representation of Mexico’s efforts to regain its sovereignty over the criminal organizations that have undermined national security in Mexico for decades.
