Sinaloa Sen. Enrique Inzunza Cazarez, who is staring down charges related to drug trafficking and weapons, was arrested by law enforcement officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego, California, according to several Mexican news outlets on May 16, 2026. Inzunza Cazarez, 53, now joins 10 other current and former Sinaloa officials who have been indicted by the United States District Court of New York.
Inzunza Cazarez turned himself over to federal authorities in Southern California. The official is now being accused of narcotics importation conspiracy; possession of machine guns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Inzunza Cazarez, who is a member of the ruling Morena party, has been in his current position since August 2024.
He previously served as the Secretary General of Sinaloa under Gov. Ruben Rocha Moya, who has also been indicted and resigned from his post on May 2, 2026. According to information gleaned from a 34-page superseding indictment, Inzunza Cazarez was working closely with the Sinaloa Cartel faction Los Chapitos, which is led by Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s sons, to import drugs into the U.S.
According to a report published by the New York Post, the Sinaloa senator is also accused of having meetings with Los Chapitos leaders “and agreed on specific plans for the government in Sinaloa, under Rocha Moya, to support and protect the cartel for favors from the cartel that, in turn, help the defendants and other corrupt officials in power.”
The Justice Department alleged that Inzunza Cazarez, along with businessman Enrique Diaz Vega, who previously served as the state’s Secretary of Administration and Finance from 2021 to 2024 and turned himself in to law enforcement officials in Arizona, also provided cartel leadership with assistance in installing corrupt officials in order to help protect the cartel’s drug trafficking operation. He also functioned as a middleman for El Chapo’s sons and Rocha Moya.
Prior to the June 2021 elections, Diaz Vega gave Los Chapitos the names and addresses of Rocha Moya’s competition, which allowed the cartel to “threaten and force those opponents to drop out of the gubernatorial race.” Not long after Rocha Moya was elected, he, along with Inzunza Cazarez, met with Los Chapitos leaders and recognized that the campaign was a huge success, court documents showed.
The indictment then indicated that in return for their help, “Rocha Moya would ensure that the Chapitos had control over the Sinaloa State Police, which would allow the Chapitos to carry out its drug trafficking operations without the risk of interference by state law enforcement.” The legal team representing Inzunza Cazarez then held talks with the DOJ concerning his voluntary surrender and to become a government witness.
“A drug trafficker who surrenders and offers information primarily falls under the category of a cooperating witness,” a Department of Justice source told the Post. Inzunza Cazarez, likely fearing for his life, said that was “utterly false” in a post he published on social media platform X.
According to Adela Piriz Castellano, the head of the social assistance and family welfare agency in Macuspana, Tabasco, gave the credit for the man’s apprehension to President Donald Trump. “He was arrested following formal charges by the United States Department of Justice, which links him to drug trafficking and the Sinaloa Cartel,” she went on to say on social media. “TRUMP: THE BEST PRESIDENT FOR MEXICO”
