According to a statement posted on social media by ICE, Leyva was arrested by a specially vetted team with the Mexican Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection and Secretariat of the Navy in collaboration with HSI on April 19.
The man arrested by Mexican authorities, Ivan Fernando Zepeda Leyva, is an associate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a member of the "Los Demonios" criminal group and the leader of the drug plazas in Nogales and Imuris in the Mexican state of Sonora, which spans the entire U.S.-Mexico border with Arizona.
According to a statement posted on social media by ICE, Zepeda Leyva was arrested by a specially vetted team with the Mexican Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection and Secretariat of the Navy in collaboration with HSI on April 19.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
ICE said Zepeda Leyva’s arrest marked a "major milestone in combating illegal drug trafficking and racketeering through U.S.-Mexican law enforcement cooperation."
The Trump administration has promised to be "ruthlessly aggressive" in responding to cartel threats to American citizens.
PRESIDENT TRUMP BLASTS COURTS FOR GETTING IN THE WAY OF DEPORTATION AGENDA
U.S. President Donald Trump sits in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 7, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
In late March, the Trump administration announced a barrage of sanctions against the Sinaloa Cartel. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six individuals and seven entities involved in a money-laundering network supporting the Sinaloa Cartel for sanctions.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time that his department "proudly leveled new sanctions against financiers of the criminal Sinaloa drug cartel," which he said has "flooded our borders with fentanyl and senselessly murdered innocent American citizens."
"This ends under President Trump’s leadership," said Bessent.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mexican-police-bring-major-cartel-boss-ice-assisted-raid-major-milestone