Chuy González profile recounts U.S. charges and corridos

Reporting and context

Jesús “Chuy” González Peñuelas, the subject of U.S. trafficking charges and a reward of up to $5 million, was killed in a Navy confrontation near Estación Capomas in Guasave, Sinaloa, on October 26, according to Infobae México. The outlet’s profile contrasts the U.S. allegations with corridos portraying him as a generous rancher from Batamote.

Infobae México reported that González Peñuelas was 56 and that DEA records listed Batamote as his birthplace and Gabriel Leyva Solano as his last known address. Citing N+, it identified a second man killed as Cesáreo Peñuelas Ruiz, from the 5 de Febrero ejido in Sinaloa de Leyva. Both bodies were taken to Culiacán’s forensic service, where González Peñuelas’s sisters went to claim his remains, the account said.

Residents reported security operations beginning October 24, followed by an aerial and ground pursuit along rural roads. Infobae placed the fatal clash near Estación Capomas on October 26.

For background, Infobae cited Ríodoce’s reporting that González Peñuelas rose through Los Mazatlecos, an armed group led by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, known as “El Chapo Isidro,” with roots in the Beltrán Leyva organization. Their area of influence included Guasave, Sinaloa de Leyva and nearby communities. The article also cited intelligence reported by N+ alleging that González Peñuelas had worked with Los Chapitos before shifting to Los Mayos after fighting erupted in September 2024.

The profile recounts Treasury allegations that he ran an independent drug production and distribution network operating since at least 2007. A May 12, 2021 statement described heroin laboratories in Sinaloa, raw opium gum supplies and trafficking in cocaine and M-30 fentanyl pills made to resemble oxycodone. Treasury’s May 20, 2026 account also alleged methamphetamine production and distribution. The network operated in Sinaloa and Sonora and supplied California, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Utah and Nevada, according to the report.

The 2021 sanctions covered González Peñuelas and six associates, including his brothers Ignacio and Wilfrido. Treasury identified Ignacio as a senior lieutenant overseeing shipment security and linked Wilfrido to heroin and opium sales. Other named associates were Efraín Mendívil Figueroa, Adelmo Núñez Molina, Raúl Payán Meraz and Juana Payán Meraz. The action also designated Guasave company City Plaza, alleged to belong to Mendívil Figueroa and serve as a money-laundering front.

The article says the May 2026 action added Cástulo Bojórquez Chaparro and Fredi Ismael García Sandoval over alleged laundering through Mexican businesses; Luis Arnulfo Moreno Zamora and Baltazar Sáenz Aguilar over alleged cash transfers to Mexico; and Noé de Jesús Castro Rocha over alleged cocaine and heroin trafficking. These descriptions are U.S. allegations recounted by Infobae.

In Mexico, the profile cited Ríodoce’s account of a 2015 arrest order and an amparo proceeding in which a court granted a provisional suspension after a 500-peso guarantee. The defense challenged the order’s legal basis and reasoning, and a criminal collegiate court of the Twelfth Circuit upheld the suspension.

U.S. cases included 2017 conspiracy charges in the Southern District of California and a February 2018 Colorado case involving alleged manufacture and distribution of more than one kilogram of heroin and five kilograms of cocaine for importation. OFAC designated him under the Kingpin Act in 2021 and imposed further sanctions under executive orders 14059 and 13224 in May 2026, the profile said.

Infobae also examined songs by Los Gallitos de Chihuahua and Los Novillos de la Sierra. It described lyrics celebrating a sociable rancher, his cornfields and flights through the mountains, without mentioning drugs, weapons or violence. The article presents those songs as a public image distinct from the allegations in U.S. cases.