Drug lord “El Mayo” Zambada and son of “El Chapo” arrested in Texas

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, co-founder and alleged leader of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, and the son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman were arrested by federal authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday.

“The Department of Justice has taken into custody two more suspected leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. Zambada Garcia and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of cartel co-founder El Chapo, were arrested Thursday in El Paso, Texas.

Two officials told Reuters that Zambada Garcia and Guzman Lopez were arrested after landing on a private plane. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that the agency and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had arrested the two alleged cartel leaders “who have evaded law enforcement for decades.”

The two alleged leaders of the cartel, Wray said, “now face justice in the United States” after being “responsible for smuggling tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States and the violence that came with it.”

Both men face multiple charges of directing the cartel’s criminal activities, including the “deadly fentanyl production and smuggling networks,” Garland said. Reuters first reported on the arrests.

The arrests of Zambada and Guzman Lopez follow the arrests of other notable cartel leaders and associates, including “El Chapo,” another son of El Chapo and alleged cartel leader, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, and the cartel’s alleged chief sicario, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini,” the Justice Department said.

Arms race in Mexico:Mexican cartels boast of their increased lethal firepower, including some weapons from the United States

Zambada, who evaded arrest for years, had continued to run the Sinaloa cartel from Mexico after El Chapo was extradited to the United States in 2017 and sentenced to life in a maximum security prison. The two co-founded the cartel and over decades built a global network that trafficked fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and heroin.

After El Chapo’s extradition, his four sons inherited his global drug empire and expanded its reach as one of the largest fentanyl exporters to the United States. According to a fifth indictment filed in February, Zambada led the cartel from 1989 to 2024, when the criminal enterprise imported and distributed “massive quantities” of narcotics – generating billions in profits.

“The Sinaloa Cartel pioneered the production of fentanyl and smuggled it into our country for years, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans and devastating countless communities,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “Today, two of the cartel’s alleged top leaders – Ismael Zambada Garcia (“El Mayo”) and Joaquin Guzman Lopez – are in U.S. custody and facing trial.”

“El Mayo” charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl

In the most recent indictment in February, federal prosecutors charged Zambada with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl. Zambada was previously charged in four other indictments with operating a continuing criminal organization, in addition to murder conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and other drug offenses.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the fifth indictment extended the deadline for the criminal enterprise and several conspiracies from May 2014 to January 2024.

“As alleged, Zambada Garcia is accused of numerous drug offenses, including now the manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, a deadly drug that was largely unknown when he founded the Sinaloa Cartel more than three decades ago and that is responsible for untold harm today,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement in February.

As the alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Zambada employed individuals and “sicarios,” or hitmen, to carry out the organization’s criminal activities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. These individuals secured transportation routes and warehouses to import and store drugs and committed murders and kidnappings in Mexico to exact revenge on those who threatened the cartel.

The cartel made millions of dollars by selling drugs and then smuggling them back to Mexico, the US Attorney’s Office said.

Before Zambada’s arrest on Thursday, the Drug Enforcement Administration had offered a reward of up to $15 million for his capture.

Drug cartels “at the center” of the US drug crisis

The Sinaloa Cartel is considered the “largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere,” according to the nonprofit think tank InSight Crime. Although the cartel is primarily involved in drug trafficking, some groups also traffic drugs and tax other criminal networks, including human traffickers.

In the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment, the agency found that synthetic drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine were responsible for “nearly all fatal drug poisonings” across the country.

Drug poisoning is the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2022, the CDC estimated that over 110,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States, with nearly 70% caused by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

“The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels are at the center of this crisis,” the Drug Enforcement Administration said in its assessment. “The extent of the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels’ control over every aspect of the criminal drug trade has virtually eliminated all competition in U.S. markets and has allowed cartel members to have a presence in every U.S. state.”

The USA TODAY Network has reported on the far-reaching impact of the cartels in the Western United States, including near Portland, along Puget Sound and in Alaska, where drug traffickers are targeting communities to help the cartels expand their network.

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