'Los Rugrats' cartel boss charged with narco-terrorism in Southern California

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Set us as preferred Federal prosecutors in San Diego have charged an alleged high-ranking lieutenant and leader of a violent wing of the Sinaloa Cartel called “Los Rugrats” with narcoterrorism, providing material support of terrorism and drug trafficking.The indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses Carlos Alberto Paez Pereda, 30, of manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine into the U.S.for the Mayo Zambada faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.Paez, a resident of Laguna Colorada in Mexico’s Sinaloa state is also accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds and fueling the violence in Mexico by supplying weapons and fighters to Los Mayos, which has been a war with another faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.Authorities said Paez, whose monikers include “Carlitos” and “Carlitos Rugrats,” appeared to have named his faction after the Nickelodeon animated series “Rugrats,” a show about a group of toddlers and their day-to-day lives.“You can’t arrest a cartoon character.

But you can arrest a narcoterrorist,” U.S.Atty.

Adam Gordon said in a written statement announcing the indictment.It is the latest in a series of indictments that have been filed since President Trump designated drug cartels and other transnational organizations such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as terrorist organizations under an executive order issued last year.The executive order is part of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle Mexican drug cartels that includes the Jalisco New Genertion Cartel and the Beltran Leyva Organization.According to the latest indictment, federal prosecutors allege that Paez enforces the Sinaloa Cartel’s operations in Sinaloa and Tijuana using armed fighters and hit men to carry out murders, kidnappings and other violent activity.“Paez also manages and controls a ...