Leaders Of Sinaloa Cartel Presented In Manhattan Federal Court

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Terrance C. Cole, announced that KEVIN GIL ACOSTA, a/k/a “El 200,” MARTIN ZAZUETA PEREZ, a/k/a “Piyi,” and LEOBARDO GARCIA CORRALES, a/k/a “Leo,” arrived from Mexico in the Southern District of New York last night.  GIL ACOSTA, ZAZUETA PEREZ, and GARCIA CORRALES are charged with fentanyl trafficking and weapons offenses in connection with their roles working for the Sinaloa Cartel.  The defendants were presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo and detained.  

“The illicit fentanyl trade continues to plague Americans and New Yorkers of all walks of life, and the Sinaloa Cartel, a vast, deadly, and corrupt enterprise, is at the center of the scourge,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “The defendants allegedly held leading roles, using abhorrent violence to protect the Cartel.  Their arrival yesterday in the United States to face justice in a U.S. courtroom is another major step in the partnership between our Office and the DEA to end the operations of the Sinaloa Cartel.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictments against GIL ACOSTA, ZAZUETA PEREZ, and GARCIA CORRALES, and other court filings: [1]

The Sinaloa Cartel (the “Cartel”), based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, operates in countries around the world and is one of the dominant drug trafficking organizations in the Western Hemisphere responsible for the massive influx of fentanyl into the United States, as well as the accompanying violence and deaths that have afflicted communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

To protect and further the Cartel’s fentanyl trafficking operations, the Cartel, and specifically, the sons of the Cartel’s notorious former leader, Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, a/k/a “El Chapo,” known collectively as the “Chapitos,” have relied upon armed enforcers, known as sicarios.  These sicarios comprise a security apparatus built to commit acts of violence to protect the Chapitos’ operation and its leaders, territory, labs, trafficking routes, and money.  They regularly use military-grade weapons which are often smuggled from the United States, including machine guns, to perpetrate violence, including murder, torture, and kidnapping.

GIL ACOSTA and ZAZUETA PEREZ were leaders of the Chapitos’ security apparatus.  GIL ACOSTA served as the leader of a group of sicarios tasked with protecting the Chapitos’ fentanyl laboratories and fentanyl distribution routes, and personally trafficked fentanyl manufactured in labs controlled by the Chapitos.  ZAZUETA PEREZ was responsible for providing security in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, including by protecting the Chapitos’ fentanyl operations through kidnapping, torture, and murder using machine guns and other weapons.  On behalf of the Chapitos, GIL ACOSTA and ZAZUETA PEREZ participated in attacks against Mexican government and military officials, including during the Mexican authorities’ failed efforts in or about October 2019 to arrest one of the Chapitos. Specifically, during that operation, GIL ACOSTA led sicarios armed with AK-47s, M-16s, and AR-15s in attacks on Mexican government and military officials, and ZAZUETA PEREZ, armed with an AR-15 and grenade launcher, conducted attacks on Mexican government and military officials.

GARCIA CORRALES is a fentanyl supplier who has worked closely with the Sinaloa Cartel and has produced fentanyl in ton quantities. He oversaw the importation of kilogram quantities of fentanyl into the United States and conspired with others to arrange the sale of fentanyl in exchange for military-grade weapons, including hundreds of automatic weapons and .50-caliber rifles and grenades, for the purpose of promoting and protecting his drug trafficking activities. In connection with those efforts, GARCIA CORRALES and his co-conspirators delivered approximately 33 kilograms of fentanyl to buyers in the United States as partial payment for the planned weapons deal.

GIL ACOSTA, ZAZUETA PEREZ, and GARCIA CORRALES were transferred on August 12, 2025, from Mexico to the United States pursuant to Mexico’s National Security law.  They were among more than two dozen wanted fugitives facing a range of federal and state criminal charges from around the country, including charges relating to drug trafficking, hostage-taking, kidnapping, illegal use of firearms, human smuggling, money laundering, the murder of a sheriff’s deputy, and other crimes.

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GIL ACOSTA, 35; ZAZUETA PEREZ, 29; and GARCIA CORRALES, 55, all from Mexico, are each charged with one count of fentanyl importation conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; one count of possession of machine guns and destructive devices, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and one count of conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.  GIL ACOSTA and ZAZUETA PEREZ are also each charged with one count of fentanyl trafficking conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The mandatory minimum and maximum potential sentences in these cases are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit and the DEA offices in Mexico, as well as the assistance of the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, the United States Marshals Service, and the Government of Mexico.

This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas S. Bradley, Jane Y. Chong, Sarah L. Kushner, and David J. Robles are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.