Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, a veteran leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of another notorious cartel figure, were apprehended by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday.
According to The Associated Press, the U.S. Justice Department disclosed this in a statement
Zambada, who has been a key figure in the Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, is one of the world’s most infamous drug traffickers.
He is known for orchestrating the cartel’s smuggling operations while maintaining a low profile.
A Mexican federal official, speaking anonymously due to lack of authorization, revealed that Zambada and Guzmán López arrived in the U.S. on a private jet and voluntarily surrendered to authorities.
The U.S. had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Zambada’s capture, a fugitive for many years.
FBI Director, Christopher Wray, stated that Zambada and Guzmán López were responsible for smuggling “tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, along with related violence,” and now they will “face justice in the United States.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized the gravity of the fentanyl crisis, labeling it as “the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced,” and vowed that the Justice Department would ensure that every cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for this crisis would be held accountable.
There was no immediate comment from Mexican authorities regarding the arrests.
Zambada had long been sought by U.S. officials and faced numerous charges in the U.S.
In February, he was indicted in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to manufacture and distribute synthetic opioids. Prosecutors highlighted that he continued to lead the Sinaloa cartel, described as “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
Known as a seasoned and strategic capo, Zambada was deeply involved in the cartel’s operations, unlike his more flamboyant and well-known counterpart, “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the U.S. in 2019 and is the father of Guzmán López.
Despite facing many challengers, Zambada was noted for focusing on the business aspects of trafficking and avoiding the gruesome violence that attracted unwanted attention.
In a rare 2010 interview with Proceso magazine, he admitted living in constant fear of imprisonment and expressed that he would prefer suicide over capture.
“I’m terrified of being incarcerated,” Zambada said. “I’d like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.”
The interview was notable as Zambada typically kept a low profile, ensuring strict conditions for the meeting without revealing his location.
Zambada earned the loyalty of locals in his native Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his generosity, supporting farmers and distributing money and beer in his hometown, El Alamo.
Little is known about Zambada’s early life, but he is believed to have started as an enforcer in the 1970s. By the early 1990s, he was a key player in the Juarez cartel, overseeing large-scale cocaine and marijuana trafficking.
Zambada built strong ties with Colombian traffickers, which allowed him to rise in the cartel world of shifting alliances. He eventually split from the Juarez cartel without sparking a turf war and formed a significant partnership with “El Chapo” Guzmán, propelling him to the top of the Sinaloa cartel.
Zambada’s arrest follows several significant captures of Sinaloa cartel figures, including his son and another son of “El Chapo” Guzmán, Ovidio Guzmán López.
Zambada’s son admitted to leading a faction of the cartel in U.S. federal court in San Diego in 2021.
Recently, Guzmán’s sons have led the ‘Chapitos’, a faction identified as a primary fentanyl supplier to the U.S. market, known for their violence and flamboyant lifestyles. Their security chief was detained by Mexican authorities in November.
Ovidio Guzmán López was arrested and extradited to the U.S. last year, pleading not guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago in September.
A former head of international operations for the DEA, Mike Vigil, acknowledged Zambada’s arrest as significant but doubted it would impact the drug flow to the U.S. He noted Joaquín Guzmán López’s lesser influence among the Chapitos.
“This is a great blow for the rule of law, but is it going to have an impact on the cartel? I don’t think so,” Vigil commented.
“It’s not going to have a dent on the drug trade because somebody from within the cartel is going to replace him,” Vigil added.
