FBI Captures Top 10 Fugitive With Alleged Sinaloa Cartel Ties

Federal authorities have arrested Gregory Henderson Jr., an alleged Indianapolis gang leader who was taken into custody just three days after the FBI placed him on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to his capture.

Henderson, 46, had been a fugitive since August 2023, when federal investigators carried out a broad crackdown on the organization he is accused of leading. He is charged in federal court with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and conspiracy to participate in an animal fighting venture.

According to the FBI, Henderson allegedly headed a violent Indianapolis-based gang tied to a drug distribution pipeline supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel. Authorities say the network moved methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl across Indianapolis and into other parts of the Midwest.

Henderson is the ninth person from the FBI Ten Most Wanted list to be arrested since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Together, those nine fugitives had spent more than 50 years avoiding capture, the bureau said. The FBI also noted that the total is more than double the four Ten Most Wanted fugitives apprehended during the Biden administration.

FBI Director Kash Patel told News Outlet exclusively that Henderson’s arrest is part of what he described as a wider surge in Ten Most Wanted captures under the Trump administration.

“Nine Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives is more than twice as many as captured under the entirety of the prior administration — and this FBI and our partners did it in 18 months under President Trump’s brilliant leadership,” Patel said. “Gregory Henderson Jr. had been on the run for a year, wanted for his alleged involvement in major drug trafficking operation and animal fighting conspiracies as the alleged leader of a violent neighborhood-based gang located in Indianapolis, Indiana – a gang with significant drug distribution ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.”

“This administration is letting good cops be cops and they are delivering in historic ways. I’d like to congratulate our FBI Indianapolis team who led this case from the beginning and thank our great Justice Department and law enforcement partners who righteously pursued this case with us,” he added.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General was among the federal partners involved in the case.

“I would like to thank the FBI, DOJ, and our USDA OIG among many other federal partners in their relentless pursuit for justice. Mr. Henderson had sought to evade the law after committing multiple crimes and leaving behind pain and anguish for many people and animals, but today is the end of that devastation,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins told News Outlet “President Trump has focused his administration on delivering justice for those targeted by violent crimes, and we will not rest until we achieve this goal.”

The FBI added Henderson to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on Aug. 11, describing him as armed and dangerous.

Henderson and 20 others were federally indicted in the Southern District of Indiana in August 2023 on drug trafficking and dog fighting conspiracy charges. More than 300 federal, state and local law enforcement officers carried out a takedown later that month, arresting 18 people while Henderson evaded capture.

Federal agents seized 61 guns, quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine, $98,000 in cash and 166 fighting dogs during the operation, according to the FBI.

Law enforcement also uncovered what the FBI described as a significant dog fighting and illegal gambling operation allegedly led by Henderson.

“Henderson Jr. has a long history of criminal activity, including street violence, intimidation, assault, and weapons, in addition to drug trafficking and animal cruelty,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Tim O’Malley.

Details about where and how Henderson was captured were not immediately available.