Trump admin partners with Mexican government to arrest key cartel boss
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) collaborated with a specialized law enforcement unit of the Mexican government to apprehend a criminal boss associated with the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, known only as “440.”
This operation comes in the midst of a severe drug crisis in the United States, as stated by the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, with dangerous substances like fentanyl and methamphetamine being smuggled across the border. The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have been identified as key players in fueling this crisis.
The Sinaloa Cartel, known for its drug trafficking activities in western Mexico, was recently classified as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump State Department. Additionally, several other Mexican cartels, the Salvadoran gang MS-13, and the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua have also been designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The individual apprehended by Mexican authorities, Ivan Fernando Zepeda Leyva, is connected to the Sinaloa Cartel and serves as the leader of the drug plazas in Nogales and Imuris in the Mexican state of Sonora, which spans the entire U.S.-Mexico border with Arizona. ICE revealed that Leyva was arrested by a specially vetted team from the Mexican Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection and Secretariat of the Navy in collaboration with HSI on April 19.
This arrest is a significant step in combating illegal drug trafficking and racketeering through the cooperation of U.S.-Mexican law enforcement agencies. The Trump administration has made it clear that it will take aggressive measures to address cartel threats to American citizens.
In a related development, the Trump administration recently imposed sanctions against the Sinaloa Cartel, targeting a money-laundering network that supports their operations. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned six individuals and seven entities involved in this network. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that these sanctions aim to disrupt the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the United States and prevent further harm to American citizens.
Overall, the collaborative efforts between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies are crucial in tackling the drug crisis and dismantling criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel. The Trump administration’s commitment to addressing these threats underscores the importance of international cooperation in combating transnational crime.
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