Photo: U.S. Department of Justice via Associated Press Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada (left) and Joaquín Guzman Lopez, were arrested as their private plane landed in Texas.
Published at 9:05
Two leaders of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel were captured Thursday in Texas, in the southern United States, the US Department of Justice announced, in a major blow to “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking networks in the world.”
After a daring sting operation, the two leaders of the cartel with many international ramifications were arrested as their private plane landed in Texas, on the American side of the border with Mexico, according to US media reports citing police sources.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of notorious drug lord “El Chapo,” had convinced Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as “El Mayo,” a co-founder of the cartel, to board a plane supposedly bound for southern Mexico, but the plane actually headed north and landed in El Paso, United States, according to Fox News.
The son of “El Chapo” lured “El Mayo” onto the plane “under false pretenses,” according to senior U.S. officials cited by the New York Times.
Guzman surrendered and “El Mayo” was arrested, a Fox News reporter added on the X network.
« “Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as “El Mayo,” a co-founder of the cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of the other co-founder, were taken into custody today in El Paso, Texas,” said Merrick Garland, the United States Attorney General, in a statement.
They are both facing prosecution in the United States for their alleged role in the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid and “the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced,” the attorney general said.
The arrest of “El Mayo” strikes “at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, that are killing Americans from coast to coast,” said Anne Milgram, the head of the DEA, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
And that of the son of “El Chapo” deals “a new, very hard blow to the Sinaloa cartel,” added Ms. Milgram.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez is one of the sons of the drug lord who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel and is currently serving a life sentence in the United States, following his conviction in 2019.
Another of his sons, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was extradited to the United States in 2023.
After the arrest of “El Chapo”, several of his sons, collectively nicknamed “Chapitos” (or “Little Chapos”), had inherited control of the organization, according to American authorities.
Aged 76, “El Mayo” is described as “one of the most famous drug traffickers in the history of Mexico” by the specialized analysis center InSight Crime. “He is best known for keeping a low profile,” “prioritizing business over violence,” and for being “one of the few leaders of the old guard who managed to evade justice throughout his criminal career.”
The Sinaloa cartel is accused by the United States of being largely responsible for the massive distribution of fentanyl on American soil and the violence linked to trafficking on both sides of the border.
“The Justice Department will not rest until all the leaders, members, and associates of the cartel responsible for poisoning our society are held accountable,” the Attorney General said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States recorded more than 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2023. Fentanyl was the cause of about 70% of them.
Senior members of the cartel that originated in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa are regularly extradited to the United States by neighboring Mexico, with which Washington has consistently sought to strengthen cooperation in the fight against drug traffickers.
Drug-related violence is rampant in Mexico, with more than 450,000 people murdered since the government launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006. Victims include members of the security forces and journalists.
The criminal network “has established ties to the highest levels of the Mexican federal police and military, and has bribed members of both institutions to maintain an advantage over rival organizations,” according to Insight Crime.
The Sinaloa Cartel is also among the long list of points of contention between Washington and Beijing. In June, the U.S. Justice Department charged “shadow Chinese bankers” with helping the network launder more than $50 million in drug proceeds.
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