Pedro Inzunza Noriega, alias 'El Señor de la Silla' or 'El Sagitario', was arrested on December 31, 2025, in Culiacán, Sinaloa, along with three others. The kingpin, second-in-command to Fausto Isidro Meza Flores's cell, 'El Chapo Isidro', faces U.S. charges for narcoterrorism and massive fentanyl trafficking. The arrest marks a major blow to the Sinaloa Cartel amid a December of several losses.
On December 31, 2025, around 3:00 p.m., a joint operation by the Secretariat of the Navy, Secretariat of National Defense, and Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection raided the Guadalupe neighborhood in Culiacán, Sinaloa. There, they arrested Pedro Inzunza Noriega, about 62 years old, known as 'El Señor de la Silla' or 'El Sagitario', along with three others. Inzunza, paralyzed after a back gunshot wound sustained as an escort for Arturo Beltrán Leyva (1961-2009), had risen in organized crime from humble origins.
As second-in-command to the cell led by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias 'El Chapo Isidro'—released in 2017 and a fugitive—Inzunza headed a faction of the Beltrán Leyva Organization, deemed one of the most violent in the Sinaloa Cartel. This network operates in areas like Tijuana and is identified as the world's largest fentanyl producer. Alongside his son Pedro Inzunza Coronel, 'El Pichón'—killed in November 2025—he oversaw the trafficking of tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin to the United States.
In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice, under the Donald Trump administration, filed the first narcoterrorism charge against a Sinaloa Cartel member. Inzunza and his son were indicted for narcoterrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering. The Beltrán Leyva Organization uses tactics such as armed confrontations, murders, kidnappings, and torture to control territories and generate millions of dollars, intimidating communities and targeting officials.
A key seizure happened on December 3, 2024, when Mexican authorities confiscated 1,500 kilograms of fentanyl in Sinaloa, the largest global record for the drug. Houtan Moshrefi, an FBI agent in San Diego, stated that Inzunza and his son were behind the largest fentanyl and cocaine seizures bound for the U.S. The indictment bears case number 25cr1505.
This arrest adds to a tough December for the Sinaloa Cartel, including the killing of Óscar Medina, 'El Panu', on December 21 in Mexico City, and detentions of 'Los Chapitos' operators amid the territorial war with La Mayiza. It remains unclear if Inzunza will be extradited to the United States.
