Mexican authorities kill one of country’s top fentanyl traffickers

Original article by Oscar Lopez in Mexico City

Mexican authorities have killed one of the country’s top fentanyl traffickers, accused of importing tens of thousands of kilos of the drug into the US and wanted by the US authorities on narco-terrorism charges.

Pedro Inzunza Coronel, alias “El Pichón”, (The Pigeon) was killed on Sunday during an anti-drug operation by the Mexican navy in the north-western state of Sinaloa.

“Two operators of this criminal cell were detained and upon attacking the naval personnel, Pedro ‘N’ Pichón lost his life,” said Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s security secretary on X.

Along with his father, Pedro Inzunza Noriega, Coronel was one of Mexico’s top fentanyl traffickers. Last year, Mexican authorities raided multiple locations controlled by the duo and seized more than 1.65 tons of the drug – the largest seizure of fentanyl in the world.

In May, the US Department of Justice charged the father and son with narco-terrorism in connection with trafficking “massive” amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the US. They were also charged with money laundering.

The indictment for narco-terrorism was “the first in the nation,” according to the US attorney’s office for the southern district of California.

US authorities claimed that “together the father and son lead one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world,” and had “trafficked tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the United States.”

Coronel and Noriega were key leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a once powerful and violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that is now believed defunct, although its splinter groups continue to operate across Mexico.

According to Mexican media, Coronel was the righthand man of Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias “El Chapo Isidro”, leader of the Guasave Cartel, a splinter group of the Beltrán Leyva Organization. In February, Meza-Flores was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List.

During the operation on Sunday, Mexican authorities located several drug laboratories where they seized weapons, vehicles, drugs, and chemical precursors.

Ronald Johnson, the US ambassador to Mexico, celebrated the operation and said in a post on X that Coronel was accused of multiple crimes, including “murders, kidnappings, torture, and violent debt collection for drug trafficking.”

“These results reflect what our nations can achieve when they work together against those who pose a threat to our citizens,” Johnson wrote.