A federal grand jury on Friday indicted a notorious Chicago drug cartel baron, Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe, popularly known as El Musico, on terrorism and drug trafficking charges.

El-Musico, 50, who led a faction of Mexico based Sinaloa Cartel designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in the U.S. by President Trump’s Executive Order 14157, risk life in prison, U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement announcing his indictment on Friday.

As leader of Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world, the DOJ statement noted that El-Musico coordinated the distribution of “large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs in Chicago and other parts of U.S., using cars, trucks, rail cars, and other interstate carriers.”

The U.S. Department of Justice added that El-Musico “ordered and carried out violent attacks against rivals, military personnel, and law enforcement, including ordering the murder of a Mexican police officer and two others.”

It added, “Under El-Musico’s leadership, the faction armed its members with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosives, and other weapons, while also engaging in kidnappings, assaults, and bribery of corrupt public officials.”

U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois said El-Musico’s indictment was a strong message that the Trump-led administration would hunt transnational crime gangs and bring their leaders and members to justice.

“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 Mr Boutros.

He added, “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.”

El-Musico’s indictment came a few days after co-founder of Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as El Mayo, admitted to being a kingpin of the terrorist organisation.

El Mayo, 75, due for sentencing on January 13, 2026, risked life imprisonment, and agreed to forfeit $15 billion.