'La Chayo' Becomes First Mexican To Be Indicted on Charges Of Providing Material Support To a Foreign Terrorist Organization

A woman has become the first Mexican national to be indicted on charges of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization after allegedly committing several crimes on behalf of the Jalisco Cartel.

Concretely, Maria Del Rosario Navarro-Sanchez is accused of facilitating grenades to the cartel, recently designated by the Trump administration as a terrorist organization along with other criminal enterprises born in Latin America.

Navarro-Sanchez, also known as "La Chayo," also stands accused of migrant smuggling and firearms trafficking, as well as bulk cash smuggling conspiracy and conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

"These crimes, all included as allegations in the indictment, do nothing but place human lives on both sides of the border in grave danger, while loading the pockets of criminals who profit off of them," said acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Margaret Leachman.

The charges come shortly after San Diego prosecutors filed their first-ever narco-terrorism charges against leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel—treating them not just as drug traffickers, but as terrorists.

The sweeping indictment targets the top tier of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), a violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel now accused of operating the world's most prolific fentanyl production network.

At the heart of the case were Pedro Inzunza Noriega, 62, known as "Sagitario," and his 33-year-old son Pedro Inzunza Coronel, also known as "Pichon" or "Bird." Prosecutors say the father-son duo oversaw a sprawling drug empire that trafficked tens of thousands of kilos of fentanyl into the U.S.—some of it disguised as rainbow-colored pills or stamped with Louis Vuitton and Rolls Royce logos to boost appeal and signal cartel control.

Authorities say the group not only trafficked lethal drugs and laundered millions, but also operated with the kind of violent impunity seen in war zones—using torture, murder, kidnappings, and armed enforcement to control Mexican territories like Tijuana and secure trafficking routes into the U.S.