SAN DIEGO – An indictment unsealed today charges Carlos Paez Pereda, aka “Carlitos,” aka “Carlitos Rugrats,” alleged high-ranking lieutenant and leader of a violent wing of the Sinaloa Cartel called “Los Rugrats,” with Narcoterrorism and Material Support of Terrorism in connection with trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the United States. “No se puede capturar a un personaje de dibujos animados. Pero a un narcoterrorista, sí,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon.

“Today’s indictment underscores the FBI’s determination to dismantle the most violent elements of the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Los Rugrats has fueled brutal violence in Mexico that reaches into the United States along with a relentless flow of deadly drugs into our communities. Together with our federal and state partners, we will continue to target cartel leadership wherever they operate to bring them to justice and protect the public.”“For years, Pereda allegedly fueled the drug crisis by trafficking deadly drugs into the United States while using violence, intimidation, and fear to protect his criminal enterprise,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge James Nunnallee. “As alleged in the indictment, his organization relied on murder, kidnapping, and armed enforcers to maintain power and ensure the continued flow of drugs that have devastated families and communities across our nation.

DEA and our law enforcement partners remain relentless in our pursuit of those who profit from addiction and violence. Together, we are strengthening a global network of partnerships that is disrupting cartel operations, dismantling their criminal enterprises, and ensuring those responsible have fewer places to hide and nowhere to run.” “This indictment highlights the collaboration and strength of the Homeland Security Task Force,” said Kevin Murphy, acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego. “HSI will continue to support our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners as HSTF San Diego continues to dismantle the cartels and protect our communities.”All photos are published in court documents and were pulled from social media accounts associated with Paez. The images depict drugs, guns and trafficking proceeds connected to the defendant.According to court documents, Paez operates a prolific manufacturing and distribution network of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine for the Mayo Zambada faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Paez also enforces the Sinaloa Cartel’s operations in Sinaloa and Tijuana through murder, kidnappings, and other violent activity, using a group of armed fighters and hitmen. Paez also manages and controls a portion of the Sinaloa Cartel’s transportation operations from Sinaloa to Tijuana, and the surrounding municipalities, ultimately leading to the importation of these drugs into the United States and distribution in the Southern District of California and elsewhere. Over the past decade, Paez has imported tens of thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, into the United States and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds. Paez was designated by the U.S.

Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, as a Drug Kingpin in September 2025. Paez has also assisted the Los Mayos faction during their ongoing bloody conflict with the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Paez has provided fighters, weapons, logistics, and money during the conflict.This indictment follows a storied tradition in the Southern District of California for dismantling leadership and operations of powerful Mexican cartels – from the dismantling of the Arellano Felix Cartel to major strikes against today’s most dangerous, powerful and violent cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the Beltran Leyva Organization.The indictment is a direct result of President Trump’s Executive Order 14157 which designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the Secretary of State’s subsequent designation of the same on February 20, 2025.This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Mellor and Peter Horn.

DEFENDANT Case Number 26cr1044-DMS Carlos Paez Pereda Age: 30 City of Residence: Laguna Colorada, Sinaloa, Mexicoaka “Carlitos”aka “Carlitos Rugrats”SUMMARY OF CHARGESTitle 21, U.S.C., Secs. 960a and 841 – NarcoterrorismMaximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 20 years in prison; $20 million fineTitle 18, U.S.C. Sec. 2339B – Providing Material Support to TerrorismMaximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fineTitle 21, U.S.C., Sec. 848(a) -Continuing Criminal EnterpriseMaximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 20 years; $10 million fineTitle 21, U.S.C., Secs. 952, 959, 960, and 963 - International Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled SubstancesMaximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years; $10 million fineTitle 21, U.S.C., Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846 - Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled SubstancesMaximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years in prison; $10 million fineTitle 21, U.S.C., Secs. 952, 960 and 963 – Conspiracy to Import Controlled SubstancesMaximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years; $10 million fineMoney Laundering Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $500,000 fine or twice the value of the monetary instrument or funds involved, whichever is greaterINVESTIGATING AGENCIESFederal Bureau of InvestigationDrug Enforcement Administration Homeland Security InvestigationsChula Vista Police DepartmentHigh Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.This case was investigated and prosecuted by the California Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.

Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.