Mexico arrests alleged drug cartel leader wanted by US

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive for a New Year’s Eve event at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 31, 2025. [AFP]

An alleged leader of the notorious Sinaloa cartel wanted by the United States has been arrested in Mexico on drug and terrorism charges, Mexican government sources said Wednesday.

Pedro Inzunza Noriega was accused by the United States in May of trafficking large amounts of fentanyl, cocaine and heroin into the country as the second-in-command of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a faction of the cartel now believed to be defunct.

He was taken into custody in the Mexico's northwestern Sinaloa state, the sources said.

The US indictment marked the first time an alleged leader of the cartel was charged with "narco-terrorism and material support of terrorism," according to the Justice Department.

"The Sinaloa Cartel is a complex, dangerous terrorist organization and dismantling them demands a novel, powerful legal response," Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time.

"Their days of brutalizing the American people without consequence are over -- we will seek life in prison for these terrorists."

Since returning to the White House last year, US President Donald Trump has vowed to crack down on drug trafficking.

His administration has conducted strikes on alleged drug boats in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, killing more than 100 people.

Trump has demanded Mexico increase its efforts to combat drug trafficking, threatening tariffs on Mexican exports if more is not done.

Noriega's son Pedro Inzunza Coronel, who was charged alongside his father, was killed by Mexican military personnel during an anti-drug operation in November.