Alleged Boss of Violent Sinaloa Cartel Faction Indicted in Chicago on Narcoterrorism, Drug, and Firearm Charges

A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted an alleged boss of a violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico on narcoterrorism, drug, and firearm charges.

Oscar Manuel Gasatelum Iribe, also known as “El Musico,” oversaw the importation of substantial quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs—at times in individual shipments of hundreds or thousands or kilograms—into the United States on behalf of the Beltran Leyva faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, a foreign terrorist organization, according to a superseding indictment returned Thursday in the Northern District of Illinois.

Gastelum Iribe served as a co-leader of the faction after its initial leaders were arrested or killed, the indictment states.

Once in charge, Gastelum Iribe conspired with other members and associates of the faction to continue transporting the drugs throughout the United States, including in the Chicago area, using cars, trucks, rail cars, and other interstate carriers, the indictment states.

The charges allege that Gastelum Iribe sought to protect the faction’s drug trafficking activities by attacking rivals, military personnel, and law enforcement, including commanding the murder of a Mexican police officer and two others. The Beltran Leyva faction under Gastelum Iribe’s leadership armed its members with machine guns, semiautomatic firearms, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and explosive devices, bribed corrupt public officials and law enforcement, and engaged in numerous kidnappings and assaults, the indictment states.

The indictment charges Gastelum Iribe, 50, of Sinaloa, Mexico, with terrorism, drug, 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 United States Secretary of State’s subsequent designation of the same in February of this year.

Gastelum Iribe faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of the charges in the indictment. Gastelum Iribe 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 Northern District of Illinois and Southern District of California and the Justice Department’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, as well as law enforcement partners from Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, and DEA.

The indictment was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Matthew R. Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Adam Gordon, United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, Reid Davis, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, Shawn Gibson, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI San Diego, and Terrance Cole, Administrator of the DEA. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Maione and Andrew Erskine of the Northern District of Illinois, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Mellor and Matthew Sutton of the Southern District of California, and Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of NDDS.

The indictment was announced as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to achieve various law enforcement goals, including the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), as well as protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs).

“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 Boutros. “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.”

“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 Galeotti. “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.”

“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 Gordon. “As El Musico once boasted, ‘La vida es curiosa, hoy soy poderoso,’ but soon his ‘Rancho Querido’ will be nothing but a distant memory.”

“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 HSI SAC Gibson. “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, heroin, fentanyl, and other lethal drugs into the United States and oversaw atrocious acts of violence, including kidnappings and murders, in Mexico,” said FBI SAC Davis. “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.”

“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 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 public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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