Cartel Leader With $1-M U.S. Bounty Killed In Mexico

A leader of a notorious Mexican drug cartel who had a $1 million bounty on his head in the U.S. has been killed in a clash with army troops, authorities said, CBS News reported.

Jorge Humberto Figueroa — known by the nickname "El Perris" — was shot and killed Friday during a raid aimed at arresting him. I Photo: U.S. Department of State

Sinaloa state, where the powerful cartel of the same name is based, is currently enduring a war between two rival factions that has left approximately 1,200 people dead since September.

Jorge Humberto Figueroa — known by the nickname "El Perris" — was shot and killed Friday during a raid aimed at arresting him, according to Public Safety Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch, who shared the news on social media.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had been offering up to $1 million for information leading to Figueroa’s arrest on suspicion of fentanyl trafficking and money laundering.

He was reportedly one of the masterminds behind an infamous 2019 confrontation with authorities in the city of Culiacán, Harfuch added.

In that case, cartel members clashed with security forces after they arrested Ovidio Guzmán, a son of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

Mexican authorities controversially released Guzmán at the time, citing concerns about avoiding further bloodshed. He was rearrested in 2023 and extradited to the U.S., where he remains in custody.

Earlier this month, Harfuch confirmed that 17 family members of cartel leaders recently crossed into the U.S. as part of a deal involving Ovidio Guzmán and the Trump administration.

El Chapo's ex-wife, Griselda López Pérez, and her daughter were among those who entered the U.S., according to local media reports.