Trump Administration Targets Sinaloa Cartel's 'Mayito Flaco' With Sanctions

The Trump administration is moving fast to dismantle a massive Sinaloa cartel web, allegedly poisoning Mexican officials right here along our border. They plan to do this with broad new sanctions. The group in question? Los Mayos, a dominant arm of the Sinaloa cartel led by an American-born boss. Accusations pile up quickly: funneling fentanyl and cash through California, then hiring killers to wipe out rivals on U.S. soil. Inside sources at Fox News Digital say the Treasury Department will slap sanctions on 21 people and 25 groups this Tuesday. The goal? Crush Los Mayos for their illegal acts inside America.

Ismael Zambada Sicairos sits right in the crosshairs. Everyone calls him "Mayito Flaco." He holds dual citizenship, born in Anaheim, California, yet the Treasury labels him the undisputed head of Los Mayos. This isn't just about drug dealing; it is a story of deep corruption. One of Mexico's toughest cartel factions supposedly controls two major trafficking routes along the border. They do this through rotting police forces, money laundering, and violence that has spilled over into Southern California. The allegations go deeper still, showing how far the cartel reaches inside Baja California, the state sharing a line with California.

The Treasury claims narco-corruption touches the highest levels of that state government. An ex-husband of Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda allegedly used his power to shield cartel moves. A former Mexicali public security chief reportedly took bribes so the cartel could run the municipal police like a business. This explains why visas vanished last year for both Ávila and her then-husband, Carlos Torres Torres. The State Department pulled Torres' visa in May 2025 because of his ties to the Sinaloa cartel. Olmeda lost hers around the same time, though officials never publicly said why they acted against her specifically.

General Maurizio Calabrese led Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel for quite a while. He works with federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to spot money trails and facilitation networks. "These sanctions reflect the impact of sustained interagency collaboration and intelligence fusion in identifying and disrupting the networks that enable violent transnational cartels," Calabrese told Fox News Digital. His team provided analysis and sharp operational insight on how the cartel moves cash, backing the wider effort behind these new rules.

The money trail leads straight into California. Lorenzo Castillo Maldonado, an associate in Mayito Flaco's circle, allegedly hired hitmen to kill rivals in Southern California. Another part of this network worked with shady money exchanges there to gather bulk cash from drug sales and ship it back to Mexico. The sanctions aim to break Los Mayos' hold on the Tijuana and Mexicali plazas. These spots act as strategic corridors for moving fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S. Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary, made his point clear today. "Today's action underscores that no cartel kingpin, corrupt Mexican government official, or financial facilitator is beyond the reach of Treasury's authorities," he said.

The message is clear: the Trump administration will identify and disrupt any cartel actor who threatens our security or the integrity of our financial system." This designation cuts targets off from the U.S. banking network immediately. It blocks property under American jurisdiction and bars Americans from doing business with them. Foreign banks that knowingly facilitate big transactions for sanctioned individuals could face U.S. sanctions too.

At the center of Tuesday's action is Mayito Flaco. The Treasury says he has emerged as the undisputed leader of Los Mayos. This shift happened after the July 2024 arrest of his father, longtime Sinaloa cartel kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia. El Mayo received a life sentence and was ordered to pay $15 billion in drug trafficking profits.

His arrest set off a violent struggle between Los Mayos and Los Chapitos. The latter is the Sinaloa faction led by sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Treasury says the two factions remain locked in a costly internal war. That conflict has forced both sides to rebuild their leadership and alliances.

Mayito Flaco, 44, was born in Anaheim in 1982. He later filed a U.S. name change to Fernando Sicairos Aispuro. The Treasury notes this detail. He was federally indicted in California in 2014 on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. He remains a fugitive in Mexico today.

The Treasury says he now commands Los Mayos' operations. This includes drug trafficking, murder, extortion, corruption, and kidnapping. The sanctions also target Torres' brother, Luis Alfonso Torres Torres. The Treasury accuses him of collecting bribes and laundering illicit funds through companies and political campaigns.

Former Mexicali Public Security Director Pedro Ariel Mendivil Garcia is also being sanctioned. The Treasury alleges Mendivil accepted bribes from Los Rusos leader Juan Jose Ponce Felix, known as "El Ruso." This exchange allowed the cartel to exert control over municipal police. They facilitated drug trafficking and carried out enforcement operations under this arrangement.