Document Type

Report

Publication Date

5-2026

Abstract

In December 2025, two teenagers in California pled guilty to charges related to their role in a murder-for-hire on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel. The defendants were both 15-years-old at the time of the attempted murder and subsequent murder in March of 2024. The teens were members of the Westside Wilmas gang in Southern California and were recruited by an adult member of the Mexican Mafia to complete the murder-for-hire in exchange for financial compensation and elevated status within the Sinaloa Cartel criminal enterprise. In February of 2026, three adult associates of the Sinaloa Cartel were indicted for their role in soliciting and coordinating the murder-for-hire.

Text messages between the defendants suggest that they specifically recruited youth under the age of 16 because they would not be tried in adult criminal court in the state of California under California Senate Bill 1391 and would thus face lesser sentencing for the murder. The federal prosecutions of the youth sicarios (hitmen) and the adult associates who recruited them highlights increasing efforts by cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) to recruit youth to engage in violence and other criminal activity. In addition, this case illustrates that legislation intended to establish appropriate prosecution processes for minors in the U.S. is being exploited by criminal enterprises to further their goals.

The Sinaloa Cartel was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State on February 20, 2025. This designation expands the tools available to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt criminal activity linked to the Sinaloa Cartel both in the U.S. and abroad. The current case illustrates the value of establishing criteria for the broader Sinaloa Cartel Enterprise to more effectively target the structure of the criminal network linked to Sinaloa Cartel, rather than individual actors.

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