Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias “Chapo Isidro,” is the alleged leader of the Meza Flores Organization, also known as the Guasave Cartel. He has reportedly been active in Mexico’s underworld since the 1990s, maintaining a low profile. His influence in the state of Sinaloa and surrounding areas led US authorities to designate him as the leader of a major drug trafficking group in 2013 and formally indict him in 2019. He is currently one of the most wanted criminals in the United States.
History
According to the US government, Chapo Isidro has trafficked large quantities of drugs since 2000, operating from Guasave in Sinaloa state. Other reports indicate that he began his criminal career working for Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the former head of the Juárez Cartel, who allegedly died in 1997 following plastic surgery. After Carrillo Fuentes’ death, Chapo Isidro joined the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) at a time when it was still allied with what would later become his rival – the Sinaloa Cartel.
When Alfredo Beltrán Leyva was arrested in 2008, a violent split occurred between the faction led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and the remaining Beltrán Leyva brothers. Chapo Isidro sided with the Beltrán Leyvas.
Reports on Chapo Isidro’s criminal activities became more frequent beginning in 2011. In November of that year, authorities linked him to 32 corrupt police officers in Ahome, Sinaloa, and connected him to the murder of 16 people whose burned bodies were found in trucks in Culiacán, further south.
In 2013, the US Treasury Department stated that Chapo Isidro was leading his own organization – the Meza Flores Organization – which operates in Guasave and surrounding cities in Sinaloa, in northern Mexico. Some of Chapo Isidro’s relatives were allegedly part of this network.
Authorities also cited the rivalry between Chapo Isidro and El Chapo Guzmán as the main reason for a four-fold increase in organized crime-related homicides in Sinaloa at that time. According to Borderland Beat, this war was fueled by the betrayal of one of Chapo Isidro’s associates, who defected to work for the Sinaloa Cartel.
Other reports indicate that Chapo Isidro was the right-hand man of the now-captured Héctor Beltrán Leyva and served as a high-level hitman, leading a group known as the Mazatlecos. His support reportedly helped the BLO maintain control over a small portion of Sinaloa, despite ongoing clashes with the Sinaloa Cartel. Chapo Isidro and his group allegedly fought – and defeated – a Sinaloa Cartel cell called the Anthrax and were cited as the main actors and victors in a shootout against Sinaloa Cartel forces in Tubutama, Sonora.
Following the capture of Héctor Beltrán Leyva in 2014, rumors spread that Chapo Isidro would take over as the new leader of the BLO. However, he adopted a low profile in subsequent years, while reportedly continuing to run his own network’s operations.
In 2017, US authorities announced a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. And in 2019, a federal court in the District of Columbia indicted Chapo Isidro on charges related to trafficking cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine, as well as firearms violations.
Though he remained largely out of the public eye for the following years, Mexican authorities linked the Meza Flores Organization to a record seizure of 20 million counterfeit fentanyl pills in December 2024. Then, in February 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) added him to the agency’s Top Ten Most Wanted list.
Chapo Isidro is also believed to lead a group called the Office, which reportedly operates in Baja California Sur, where it allegedly killed two rival members in August 2011, sparking a violent struggle for control of the area. This group is believed to include members from the Familia Michoacana, the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel, and the BLO. Jesús Manuel Reyes Flores, alias “El Negro,” a suspected Oficina member arrested in 2012, told authorities that the group had killed dozens of local drug traffickers in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.
Criminal Activities
Chapo Isidro is allegedly involved in trafficking marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl to the United States and possibly to other drug markets in Asia and Oceania.
Geography
Chapo Isidro’s area of influence is primarily concentrated in the municipalities of Guasave and Ahome, Sinaloa. He is also believed to have connections with other networks in northwestern Mexican states like Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur.
Allies and Enemies
Chapo Isidro has forged alliances with various trafficking cells and armed groups in Sinaloa, including the Mazatlecos and the Tortilleros. During the 2010s, he was locked in a fierce battle against the Sinaloa Cartel while maintaining ties with the BLO.
After the weakening of the BLO, his network began operating independently, striking territorial agreements and non-aggression pacts with different Sinaloa Cartel factions.
Prospects
Chapo Isidro has managed to evade authorities for decades, maintaining a relatively low profile compared to other drug lords in the region.
Since the decline of his former ally, the BLO, and the end of its war with the Sinaloa Cartel, he has reportedly not been involved in new conflicts. Even amid the internal fractures of the Sinaloa Cartel – marked by violent clashes between the Chapitos and another faction loyal to Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias “El Mayo” – there are no reports that the Guasave Cartel has intervened.
However, US and Mexican authorities consider his group, the Meza Flores Organization, to be a key player in drug trafficking, including fentanyl. His recent media exposure may put those operations at risk.
