Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, aka “Chapo Isidro”, also known as “The other Chapo”, was included by the FBI in the list of the 10 most wanted criminals in the world. US authorities accuse him of traffic Fentanyl, Methaphetaminecocaine and marijuana towards its territory. A reward of 5 million dollars is offered for information that leads to your capture.
With this designation, announced last Tuesday, Meza Flores is consolidated as a leader of organized crime at international level. However, in Mexico its criminal history covers almost two decades, with multiple arrests and liberations, as well as constant monitoring by military intelligence.
In 2008, at 25, he assumed the armed leadership of the Beltrán Leyva brothers after his break with the Sinaloa cartel. Since then, he held a violent dispute with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
On May 4, 2011 he was arrested in Culiacán, accused of crimes against health, kidnapping and organized crime. However, he was released without official explanations. In the following years, he faced new arrests: on July 9, 2014 in Guasave, on August 8 of the same year in Ahome and April 16, 2015 again in Guasave.
Despite the operations against him, his criminal structure was strengthened. In 2016, the army identified him as the leader of several criminal cells in SinaloaSonora, Baja California Sur, Durango and Nayarit. For 2018, it extended its control to 13 municipalities from Sinaloapositioning itself in strategic areas such as the Sierra, the Coast and the South of the State.
In 2019, the United States government issued a federal arrest warrant against it. His foray into the production of fentanyl put him in the sight of Mexican and American authorities. In December 2024, the Mexican government assured a ton of fentanyl in Sinaloa, attributing it to Meza Flores.
According to SEDENA intelligence documents filtered by Guacamaya Leaks, Meza Flores has used multiple routes for drug trafficking. By sea, he established a corridor from Topolobampo, in Sinaloa, to Puerto Peñasco, in Sonora, with connections to Baja California Sur. By land, he has used the federal highway Mexico 15, key to the transfer of drugs to Sonora and the border with the United States.
In 2019, he strengthened criminal alliances in Baja California Sur, forming the “Triple Alliance” with the New Generation Cartel and the Renés to dispute drug trafficking control to the Sinaloa cartel.
Between 2019 and 2022, the Sedena and the United States government executed the “operation Mongoose”, An intelligence program with Surveres and communications monitoring in Sonora, Sinaloa y Nayarit. In August 2022, they managed to obtain images satellite of two properties used by Meza Flores: a complex of 10 cabins in the Batamote, Guasaveand a hacienda in station Be called it?in the region Sinaloa of Leyva.
At the moment, Fausto Isidro Meza Flores is still a fugitive and is considered one of the most dangerous criminals for the FBI.
CT
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(Tagstotranslate) Organized Crime (T) drug trafficking