The ICE Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) partnered with the Mexican government’s special law enforcement force to arrest a criminal boss who belongs to the Sinaloa Cartel, known simply as the “440.”
This comes after the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration last year said the US was facing the “most dangerous and deadly drug crisis” in history.
The Sinaloa cartel, which runs a drug-dense empire from western Mexico, was recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department.
The administration also designated several other Mexican cartels, Salvador gangster MS-13 and Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations.
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Leiva was arrested by Mexican Security, Civil Protection and Navy Secretariat and a specially vetted team in collaboration with HSI on April 19, according to a statement posted on social media by ICE.
Ivan Fernando Zepedaleiba, a man arrested by Mexican authorities, is a member of the “Los Demonios” crime group, a fellow Sinaloa Cartel, leader of Nogales’ drug plaza, and leader of Imlis, the Sonora Mexican nation, spans the entire US-Arizona border.
According to a statement posted on social media by ICE, Zepeda Leyva was arrested on April 19 by the Secretariat of Security, Civil Protection and Navy and a specially vetted team, in collaboration with HSI.
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Ice said Zepeda Leyva’s arrest was “a major milestone in the fight against illegal drug trafficking and assault through US law enforcement cooperation.”
The Trump administration has promised to be “ruthlessly offensive” in dealing with the cartel threats to American citizens.
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US President Donald Trump will be located in the White House Oval Office in Washington, DC on March 7, 2025. (Reuters/Ra Milis)
In late March, the Trump administration announced a barrage of sanctions on the Sinaloa Cartel. The Ministry of Finance’s Bureau of Foreign Assets (OFAC) has designated six individuals and seven entities involved in the money laundering network that supports the Sinaloa Cartel for sanctions.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said at the time that his division “pridefully levelled new sanctions against criminal Sinaloa drug cartel financiers.”
“This will end under President Trump’s leadership,” Bescent said.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
