FBI offers $5M for info on Mexican cartel leader

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- The FBI on Wednesday said it is offering $5 million for information leading to the arrest of the head of a drug cartel in Mexico's Sinaloa state.

Fausto Isidro Meza-Flores, also known as "El Chapo Isidro," was charged in a federal indictment on narcotics and firearm violations.

The FBI said Meza-Flores leads the Meza-Flores Transnational Criminal Organization, a drug cartel based in Sinaloa state. He also is accused of previously being a high-ranking member of the Beltran-Leyva Transnational Criminal Organization.

"The Meza-Flores TCO is allegedly responsible for the possession, distribution, and importation of large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana into the U.S., and has predominately controlled drug distribution in parts of Sinaloa, southern Sonora, and Nayarit, Mexico," the FBI said in a news release.

The FBI described Meza-Flores as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 160 pounds with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was born in Mexico on June 19, 1982.

The FBI believes he is living in Mexico and said he was considered to be the "right hand man" of Alfredo Beltran-Leyva, the leader of the organization bearing his name, prior to his arrest in 2008.