DOJ indicts alleged Sinaloa cartel leaders as blockchain firms trace crypto links to fentanyl trade

Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, are accused of leading a massive drug trafficking network for the Beltrán Leyva Organization, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, according to a U.S. Department of Justice indictment unsealed this week. While the charges focus on trafficking tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin into the United States, blockchain analysis firms have separately traced millions of dollars in crypto tied to fentanyl production and cartel-linked payments.

The charges follow President Donald Trump's foreign terrorist organization (FTO) designation order signed in January. FTO allows the government to seize crypto and other assets connected to cartel agents.

Although the DOJ’s case against the supposed cartel bosses is based on illegal drugs and trafficking, blockchain analytics providers like Chainalysis, TRM Labs, and Elliptic have recently found links between stablecoins and fentanyl proceeds.

Chainalysis traced $5.5 million worth of stablecoins used by Latin American drug cartels to pay Chinese-based fentanyl manufacturers. U.S. authorities in the Eastern District of Wisconsin eventually seized the funds, according to a Chainalysis March 2025 crime report.

Some cases have involved official sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In September 2023, OFAC blacklisted Ethereum wallets associated with alleged Sinaloa cartel member Jimenez Castro.

Elsewhere, TRM Labs released a study that revealed most Chinese fentanyl precursor vendors in 26 cities accepted crypto payments. According to Elliptic, illicit drug producers received millions of dollars in digital currencies amid the U.S. fentanyl epidemic.

A separate Chainalysis report released in 2024 said chemical shops suspected of brewing narcotics have received $250 million in crypto since 2015.