Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe Alias, "Musico" "Manny" "Salgado" "23" Indicted in Chicago on Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and Firearm Charges

Press Release

Alleged Leader of Sinaloa Cartel Faction Indicted in Chicago on Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and Firearm Charges

Friday, September 5, 2025

A federal grand jury has indicted an alleged leader of a violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico on terrorism, drug, and firearm charges, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

According to the superseding indictment returned yesterday in the Northern District of Illinois, Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe, 50, of Sinaloa, Mexico, also known as El Musico, directed the importation of large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs — at times in shipments of hundreds or thousands of kilograms — into the United States on behalf of the Beltran Leyva faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

“As alleged, Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe led a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that flooded the United States with fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin and used murder and intimidation to protect its profits,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Sinaloa Cartel has been designated a foreign terrorist organization because of the kinds of crimes announced today. This indictment further demonstrates that the Criminal Division will use every tool at its disposal to target cartel leaders, including by holding them accountable for acts of terrorism against our country.”

“Today’s narcoterrorism indictment of El Musico sends a powerful message that this Administration is going to aggressively pursue transnational criminal organizations and hold their highest-ranking members and associates accountable for poisoning the American public with illegal and harmful drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois. “The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office has a proud history going back many decades of prosecuting some of the nation’s biggest and most significant narcotrafficking cartel cases. Building on that tradition, under my leadership, our office will continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of violent drug cartels, several of which, including the Sinaloa Cartel, have very deservedly been designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Working closely with other prosecutors and law enforcement partners across the United States, our goal remains unchanged: to disrupt and dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug empire and bring its leaders to justice.”

“From narcocorridos to narcoterrorist. El Musico famously writes his own lyrics, but his next one will be written from the Bureau of Prisons,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “As El Musico once boasted, ‘La vida es curiosa, hoy soy poderoso,’ but soon his ‘Rancho Querido’ will be nothing but a distant memory.”

“This indictment sends a clear and uncompromising message: cartel leaders who flood our streets with fentanyl and arm their networks with machine guns and grenades are not just drug traffickers — they are terrorists,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe and his faction turned cartel violence into a campaign of terror, targeting police, military, and civilians alike. DEA remains relentless in our pursuit of these narco-terrorists, and we will not stop until the Sinaloa Cartel — and every organization like it — is dismantled, its leaders brought to justice, and American families protected.”

“The indictment of El Musico and the dismantlement of the leadership structure of these foreign terrorist organizations are direct results of the unwavering commitment of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and our law enforcement partners to protect the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge Shawn Gibson of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations San Diego. “We remain resolute in our mission to bring all members of these criminal cartels to justice, regardless of where they attempt to evade accountability.”

“As a leader of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, Gastelum Iribe allegedly directed the importation of cocaine, heroine, fentanyl, and other lethal drugs into the United States and oversaw atrocious acts of violence, including kidnappings and murders, in Mexico,” said Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division. “The superseding indictment against him is the result of years of collaboration among multiple federal agencies and judicial districts. The FBI and our partners will continue to work toward dismantling the Sinaloa Cartel and bringing its violent leaders — including El Musico — to justice.”

After the arrest or death of the faction’s original leaders, Gastelum Iribe assumed a leadership role and conspired with associates to distribute drugs nationwide. including in the Chicago area, using cars, trucks, rail cars, and other interstate carriers. To protect the cartel’s operations, Gastelum Iribe allegedly ordered and carried out violent attacks against rivals, military personnel, and law enforcement, including ordering the murder of a Mexican police officer and two others. Under Gastelum Iribe’s leadership, the faction armed its members with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosives, and other weapons, while also engaging in kidnappings, assaults, and bribery of corrupt public officials.

Gastelum Iribe is charged with terrorism, drug trafficking, and firearm offenses. The terrorism charges, which accuse Gastelum Iribe of engaging in narcoterrorism and providing material support and resources to the Sinaloa Cartel, is a result of President Trump’s Executive Order 14157 designating the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the State Department’s subsequent designation of the same in February of this year.

If convicted, Gastelum Iribe faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison. He is not in custody and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

The indictment is the result of a collaboration between prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, the Northern District of Illinois, and Southern District of California, as well as law enforcement partners from Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, and DEA.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s OCDETF and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated September 5, 2025

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Chapo Isidro, the boss who grew up under the watchful eye of the Army; Secretary Of Defense Of Mexico places him at the level of “El Mayo” and Caro Quintero

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by EL UNIVERSAL

Over the past two decades, the drug lord has expanded his sphere of influence into Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Durango and Nayarit. The Army places him on the same level as El Chapo Guzmán and El Mayo Zambada.

Chapo Isidro, the drug lord who grew up under the watchful eye of the Army. Illustration: by Ani Cortés

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM 

WRITTEN BY: MIRIAM RAMIREZ 

FEBRUARY 9, 2025 

Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias Chapo Isidro, or as some refer to him, the “other Chapo,” has just been listed by the FBI as one of the 10 most wanted criminals in the world, and is offering 5 million dollars, about 100 million pesos, for information leading to his arrest. He is considered the head of a “large-scale” organization. The United States government accuses him of introducing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana into that country. With the designation that occurred just last Tuesday, Meza Flores entered the “big leagues” of international crime, however, in Mexico there is a history of almost two decades that precedes him and is recorded by military intelligence; it includes his arrest and release on at least four occasions and satellite images of the addresses where until a few years ago he took refuge in the mountains of Sinaloa.

In 2008, at just 25 years old, he assumed the war leadership of the Beltrán Leyva brothers' organization when they separated from the Sinaloa Cartel. At that time, the Beltráns began a battle against Joaquín Guzmán Loera, alias El Chapo, and Ismael Zambada García, alias El Mayo, similar to the one currently being fought by the Guzmáns and the Zambadas. These have been the two largest splits of the Cartel.

Just a few years later, on May 4, 2011, Chapo Isidro was arrested in Culiacán, accused of committing crimes against health, illegal deprivation of liberty, and violating the Federal Law Against Organized Crime, according to an identification card prepared in May 2020 by the General Adjutant of the Secretary of National Defense. However, he was released without detailing the reasons or the institutions that participated.

According to internal Sedena documents that can be consulted through the mega-leak of Guacamaya Leaks, in 2012 the Guzmán Loera and Zambada García factions managed to displace the Beltrán Leyva from Sinaloa, and established their hegemony in most of the municipalities of the state. And although they were seriously weakened, the Beltráns never really disappeared.

In that year, in parallel, the United States issued the first accusation against Meza Flores. It was filed in the Court for the District of Columbia.

Free and in operation, El Chapo Isidro established himself in the north of Sinaloa and took total control of the municipalities of Guasave and Sinaloa de Leyva. And although they tried hard, neither El Chapo nor El Mayo were able to take those territories from him.

While Chapo Isidro was increasing his military, logistical and political capabilities in the northern zone, he was arrested three more times in a period of two years, according to the same document from the Aide: on July 9, 2014, in Guasave; on August 8, 2014, in Ahome and on April 16, 2015, in Guasave again.

Beginning in 2016, Meza Flores' structure expanded its areas of operation to 13 of the now 20 municipalities of Sinaloa. He made sure to flank the state with a presence in the north, south, coast and mountains.

Due to his imminent growth, in 2018 the Army classified him as the leader of several criminal cells that operated not only in Sinaloa, but also in Sonora, Baja California Sur, Durango and Nayarit.

Although this drug lord had kept a low profile and that had helped him not to be heavily pursued by the authorities, as happened with El Chapo or El Mayo, on November 26, 2019, a federal indictment and a federal arrest warrant were issued against him in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Then came the production of fentanyl, the new great enemy of the United States and, according to the Mexican and American governments, Chapo Isidro also entered the manufacturing of the now famous blue tablets. In December 2024, the Mexican government seized a ton of fentanyl in Sinaloa, and it was immediately awarded to him. That, inevitably, put him on the priorities of the Mexican and American authorities.

For this work, dozens of emails, diagnoses and analyses of the security situation were reviewed. The reports were prepared by the Ministry of National Defense, the National Guard and the CERFI of the West and Northwest, intelligence centers that provide information to Sedena, the Ministry of the Navy, the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection and the National Intelligence Center.

The reports track the movements of El Chapo Isidro. Year after year, they mapped his presence in the country, traced the sea and land routes he used for drug trafficking, and placed him on the same level of hierarchy as Joaquín Guzmán Loera, Ismael Zambada García, Rafael Caro Quintero and, in recent years, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, alias El Chapito.

The FBI has included Meza Flores on its list of the 10 most wanted fugitives in the world. It is offering a reward of five million dollars, approximately 100 million Mexican pesos.

The takeoff

In February 2016, a document prepared by the Criminal Investigation Agency included Meza Flores among the 122 priority targets of the federal government. El Chapo Isidro was then eleventh on the list and was identified as the leader of the Beltrán Leyva organization in Sinaloa. That same year, the Sedena recorded that he was engaged in an intense dispute with the Sinaloa Cartel in other territories with the intention of extending his production areas beyond Guasave and Sinaloa de Leyva. In December 2017, the Third Military Region reported that Meza Flores had managed to enter the neighboring municipalities of El Fuerte, Ahome and Angostura, the latter two allowing him to have access to the Sinaloa coastline and, from there, create a new maritime route. It also began to establish itself in the mountainous area of ​​southern Sinaloa, in the municipalities of San Ignacio, Mazatlán, El Rosario and Escuinapa, places that share borders with Durango and Nayarit.

At that time, according to military intelligence documents, Meza Flores used a maritime route for drug trafficking that started in the port of Topolobampo, in the northern municipality of Ahome, then stopped in Bahía de Kino, in the municipality of Hermosillo, Sonora, and ended in Puerto Peñasco, very close to the border with Arizona.

At the end of 2018, the Sedena identified a new maritime route. With control of Ahome and Angostura, Meza Flores planned the trip to Loreto, Baja California Sur, through the Gulf of California.

As for the land route, Chapo Isidro has used Federal Highway Mexico 15, the most used to travel from Sinaloa to Sonora.

The combination of the surnames Meza Flores began to stand out in documents on drug trafficking and armed power in Durango, Nayarit and Baja California Sur. In a criminal diagnosis of the Western Region of Mexico, dated December 2018, the Sedena stated that Isidro was the leader of criminal cells that operated in the northern, central, northern coastal and mountain regions of Nayarit. Meanwhile, in Durango, the Third Military Region estimated that Meza Flores maintained a 15% presence in the state, especially in the mountain municipalities of San Dimas, Pueblo Nuevo and Mezquital, areas close to the south of Sinaloa and north of Nayarit.

In August 2022, an intelligence operation carried out by the Sedena and the United States government managed to obtain aerial images of the capo's location.

El Chapo Isidro had stopped being a local leader to become one of the major players in Mexican crime. By July 2019, the Sedena stated that the capo had formed the “Triple Alliance” in Baja California Sur, a union between the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, the local organization “Los Renés” and himself. The objective of this meeting was to fight the Sinaloa Cartel for control of the municipalities of La Paz, Los Cabos, Comondú and Loreto.

The power accumulated by El Chapo Isidro already allowed him to fight different battles simultaneously. In that same year, but in Sonora, he sought control of drug trafficking and sales in Guaymas, another strategic municipality due to its location on the Pacific Ocean coast.

Between 2020 and 2021, Sedena reaffirmed Meza Flores' total control in Guasave and Sinaloa de Leyva, and added its partial presence in Choix, El Fuerte, Ahome, Angostura, Salvador Alvarado, Navolato, Concordia, San Ignacio, Mazatlán, Escuinapa and El Rosario.

The image was obtained after an overflight carried out by the United States government in coordination with the Sedena, according to internal Army documents.

Dozens of emails exchanged between the director of Air Operations and Customs and Border Protection Services of the United States and a high-ranking Sedena official, whose position was not identified, show an intelligence operation carried out by both countries between 2019 and 2022, in the first part of the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

They called it Operation Mongoose, and it carried out overflights in Mexican territory with aircraft and pilots from the United States government through Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit. It also intercepted radio signals and recorded conversations.

On August 8, 2022, Operation Mongoose obtained two key images of El Chapo Isidro. Aerial photographs show a complex of 10 cabins located in the mountain community of El Batamote, Guasave, Sinaloa. Another image shows a country-style hacienda in the community of Estación Bamoa, Sinaloa de Leyva. The documents that contain the exact coordinates of the locations are titled “The house where Chapo Isidro slept” and “Chapo Isidro’s cabins.”

Today he is free, and is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives.

SOURCE: EL UNIVERSAL 

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Empresa De Guasave Or Guasave Enterprise Organizes Christmas Party In Estacion Bamoa Town Of Guasave, Sinaloa. Chapo Isidro Home Turf Is Estacion Bamoa.

 "Char" and "Enojon" for Borderland Beat 

DECEMBER 31, 2024

As I stated in a previous post, Empresa de Guasave Or Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, "Chapo Isidro" organized a Christmas party in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and toys as well as pantries were given for free to the public at large. A source confirmed this event occurred in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, a stronghold plaza of the Fausto Isidro Flores Meza organization. 

Milenio News today December 31, 2024, published a journalist work of a Christmas party now organized in Estacion Bamoa town of Guasave, Sinaloa, home turf of Chapo Isidro. Moreover, this party was well organized as free tacos and hot dogs were offered to the public. Also, toys and pantries were once again offered to the public. 

GUASAVE ENTERPRISE 

GUASAVE CARTEL 

                                        

VIDEO TRANSLATION 

BY: SOL PRENDIDO 

In the state of Sinaloa something very similar happened. The following events occurred in Bamoa, a village in Guasave. Milenio News attended one of the so-called narco posadas there. Carlos Morales has the story. 

This Christmas the generosity and the controversy were found in a corner of the north of Sinaloa with the so-called narco posadas. Milenio News was present in one of them in broad daylight at the foot of the church Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bamoa. The atmosphere was festive. More than 1500 people attended. Whole families of men and women with children in arms who waited patiently for their turn to receive food pantries, toys, and sweets. 

The grilled beef tacos and hot dogs were handed out without skimping. And the music to liven up the event wasn’t Christmas music but narco corridos, all alluding to the organizers, the Guasave Cartel. Milenio spoke with some attendees but they refused to be recorded. They confirmed that these narco posadas are a tradition.

Anonymous female: Everything is better organized than before. They use to go through the streets handing out food pantries and toys. But not everyone would receive something. With the way everything is set up now the organization has improved their way of giving.  

The prizes are also part of the attraction. Organized crime gave them tickets to participate in a raffle with prizes. Such as motorcycles, appliances, refrigerators and televisions that were placed in the main esplanade of the town. 

These narco posadas were also organized in other communities of Guasave; Juan José Ríos and Ahome. By orders of El Chapo Isidro, leader of the Guasave Cartel, who is originally from this municipality. 

FAUSTO ISIDRO MEZA FLORES

CHAPO ISIDRO

EL CHAPO DE LAS FLORES 

SOURCE: MILENIO 

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Empresa Guasave Or Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, "Chapo Isidro" Delivers Pantries And Toys In Los Mochis, Sinaloa . Chapo Isidro Wishes You A Merry Christmas

 "Char" for Borderland beat 

DECEMBER 25, 2024 

EMPRESA DE GUASAVE

ENTERPRISE OF GUASAVE

A source sent the following image and stated that in Los Mochis, Sinaloa,  a plaza controlled by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, "Chapo Isidro" pantries and toys were delivered to the public at large. 

While violent clashes have erupted in Sinaloa in plazas controlled by La Mayiza and La Chapiza, in plazas and territories controlled by Chapo Isidro there has been a deafening calmness. The speculation has been constant on whether Fausto Isidro Meza Flores has joined Ismael Zambada Sicairos, "Mayo Flaco" in the war against Los Chapos. There is still no confirmation as of yet on Chapo Isidro joining Mayo Flaco. 

FAUSTO ISIDRO MEZA FLORES 

CHAPO ISIDRO PARTY IN GUASAVE, SINALOA 

The following video was sent by an anonymous source who stated that a big party took place in Guasave, Sinaloa, the base of operations of Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, "Chapo Isidro". The party started on Friday, December 13, and ended on Sunday, December 15, 2024, so it lasted three days. 

PLEASE SEND INFORMATION INFORMATION IF ANYONE CAN CONFIRM THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN CHAPO ISIDRO AND MAYO FLACO. 

EMAIL: IVAN.FRONTERA4@GMAIL.COM 

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Historic Seizure! Omar Garcia Harfuch Reports 1,500 Kilos Of Fentanyl Seized In Sinaloa After Navy Special Forces Raid In Los Mochis And Guasave: Sinaloa

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This information was posted by LOS NOTICIERISTAS 

DECEMBER 3, 2024

GUASAVE, SIN.- According to the information shared by the federal official on his X account, in addition to the seizure of synthetic drugs, two men, whose identities have not been revealed, were also detained and firearms were also seized.

According to García Harfuch, who has been in Sinaloa since the afternoon of Tuesday, December 3, these actions will continue until the violence in the state of Sinaloa decreases. It is worth mentioning that, since Tuesday afternoon, operations by the military forces have been reported in Ahome, Juan José Ríos and Guasave, where they carried out operations in different communities.

In the urban area of Guasave, the raid on a house located next to the municipal boardwalk, near the elevated bridge, attracted attention.

The federal authorities have not revealed the identity of the detainees nor have they shared whether they belong to any specific cartel or criminal cell.

DECEMBER 3, 2024 

PICTURES PUBLISHED BY OMAR GARCIA HARFUCH ON X

SOURCE: LOS NOTICIERISTAS 

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Onslaught Of Mexican Navy Special Forces Raids In Ranches In El Guayabo And El Carrizo; Houses “Seized” in Los Mochis: Sinaloa. December 3, 2024

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was posted by LUZ NOTICIAS

At the moment, there are at least at least one raid in Ahome, no seizures or arrests of persons have been announced.

Ernesto Torres

 03/12/24

A strong mobilization of elements of the special forces of the Secretary of the Navy was registered very early in the morning, along with personnel from the Attorney General's Office from Mexico City, for a series of operations and searches in the municipality of Ahome; the results are unknown at this time.

Early on Tuesday, December 3, the arrival of special Navy forces was reported, a convoy made up of at least 25 vans and a dozen units without logos, with men dressed in black and presumably carrying personnel from the Attorney General's Office of Mexico, almost 150 elements.

In the case of Los Mochis, there are currently three homes that have been searched, all of which, according to neighbors, have been alone, so it is presumed that these were raids without official search warrants. 

The first “burglary” by the marines and the men in black of the FGR

                             

The first one was carried out in a house located in the Las Malvinas neighborhood, in the north-east of the city of Los Mochis, where they entered and left the place in less than 10 minutes.

A second property is located in Sierra Morena, between Buenos Aires and Alborada in the Las Mañanitas subdivision.

According to neighbors, the police arrived at this address kicking the neighboring houses, including in one of them, there was a young woman who works in her home doing cosmetology work, and at that moment there was an elderly client, both of them were intimidated and wanted to take them out by force.

They pointed large caliber weapons at them. After shouting at them and causing them to panic, they left and then “blew up” the other two-story building, where unofficially it was said that there were seizures, including a pickup truck.

And the third one on Calle 5 de Mayo, between Zaragoza and Gabriel Leyva, in the Insurgentes neighborhood. 

In all of them they entered and within minutes they left and it is unknown what they found inside, what has transpired unofficially is that no arrests have been recorded.

In the rural zone they also “busted” some houses and ranches.      

                                   

At the same time that the three aforementioned houses were being searched, another group of special forces of the Secretary of the Navy arrived in the rural zone of the municipality of Ahome, specifically in the Carrizo valley, where they searched a house in the Villa Gustavo Díaz Ordaz - El Carrizo syndicate.

Moments later in a community of the Heriberto Valdez Romero syndicate, better known as El Guayabo, there elements arrived in 5 Navy vans and in two private white units, where they also entered a private ranch and searched it.

They remained there for a few more minutes, so it is presumed that there may have been a seizure.

In other places where they have reported the presence of Navy elements this same day, is in Ejido Mochis, Ejido Mexico, Ejido Primero de Mayo, Ejido 5 de Mayo, Ejido Felipe Angeles and 18 de Marzo.

In addition, after the search of the Insurgentes neighborhood, it was reported that they are heading to Ejido 9 de Diciembre to carry out another search of a property.

It appears that the agents are divided into two groups carrying out simultaneous searches in the rural area of the municipality of Ahome and in the urban area of the city of Los Mochis.

 Also in Compuertas they searched a ranch next to the canal behind the community.

SOURCE: LUZ NOTICIAS 

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