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 indictmentsthat 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 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,” the statement read.
For the last 10 years, he is alleged to have imported tens of thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine into the U.S. and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds, according to prosecutors.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Paez as a drug kingpin in September 2025.
“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’s San Diego field office, one of several agencies investigating the case. “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.”
James Nunnallee, special agent in charge at the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Paez has helped fueled the drug crisis in the U.S. and used violence to protect his criminal enterprise.
“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,” he said in a statement. “DEA and our law enforcement partners remain relentless in our pursuit of those who profit from addiction and violence. “
Paez is wanted on a federal arrest warrant issued in March by a U.S. District Court judge in San Diego.
He faces a maximum of life in prison and millions in fines if found guilty on all charges.
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