The alleged Mexican drug cartel bosses who have been arrested or extradited in recent years

CNN — (CNN) — Federal agents arrested two suspected Mexican cartel bosses on Thursday, including Joaquin Guzmán López, the son of notorious cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in one of the biggest U.S. law enforcement victories in recent years.

The two arrested men belong to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world, which is said to be responsible for smuggling large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States.

Investigators took advantage of a rift in the cartel and used the help of Guzmán López to lure the other suspect, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, onto a plane to El Paso, Texas, where they eventually arrested him. Zambada is a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel.

“‘El Mayo’ and Guzmán López join the growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates being held accountable by the Department of Justice in the United States,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Here are some of the men they join on this list:

José Antonio Yépez, “El Marro” (August 2020)

José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, who was arrested in Guanajuato in August 2020, was considered by authorities to be the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel.

At the time, Mexico’s Security Minister Alfonso Durazo confirmed Yépez’s arrest via his official Twitter account and noted that there was an arrest warrant against “El Marro” for “organized crime and fuel theft.”

In January 2022, a court in Guanajuato sentenced Yépez to 60 years in prison for kidnapping, the Attorney General’s Office said.

The Santa Rosa de Lima cartel generates most of its income through fuel theft and extortion, according to Mexican authorities. “El Marro” was wanted for months, and his family and close associates came under the authorities’ scrutiny as violence increased in Guanajuato, an area controlled by the cartel.

Rafael Caro Quintero (July 2022)

Rafael Caro Quintero, one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, was arrested by the Mexican Navy in July 2022 after being on the run since 2013.

Caro Quintero was born in 1952 and, according to the US State Department, founded the now-defunct Guadalajara Cartel in the 1970s together with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and other drug traffickers. He is said to be responsible for the cultivation, transport and distribution of large quantities of marijuana in Mexico.

An extradition order to the United States has been issued against him. However, in July 2022, a judge temporarily suspended the extradition proceedings. Caro Quintero is accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.

Ovidio Guzmán “El Ratón” (January 2023)

Ovidio Guzmán López, another son of “El Chapo”, is said to play a significant role in the Sinaloa cartel, according to the US Treasury Department.

Guzmán was extradited from Mexico to the United States in September 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed. In the United States, he faces charges along with his brother Joaquín Guzmán López of conspiracy to import and distribute drugs.

In 2019, the Mexican government detained Guzmán in Culiacán, Sinaloa, but later released him amid a tense situation between government forces and armed groups loyal to his organization. In October of that year, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged that his government had ordered the release, saying it had thereby prevented “a bloodbath.” According to Mexican authorities, Guzmán López was later re-arrested on January 5, 2023, in a raid in Sinaloa.

His defense has asked for additional time to review documents presented by U.S. prosecutors during a recent hearing on the charges against him. According to the filing, the defendant’s lawyers requested a review under Section 16, which requires lawyers and prosecutors to share information in preparation for trial. For that reason, a new hearing has been scheduled for October 1.

Néstor Isidro Pérez “El Nini” (November 2023)

Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas was arrested in Culiacán in November 2023 and subsequently extradited to the United States. The United States considers him to be one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and someone linked to the security apparatus of Los Chapitos, a faction of the cartel linked to El Chapo’s children.

Pérez is charged with two federal indictments. The first charge in the District of Columbia includes importation of cocaine and methamphetamine, possession of firearms and conspiracy to obstruct justice by murder.

In the second case, in the Southern District of New York, he is accused of leading a criminal organization responsible for the deaths of several people – including the death of a DEA informant – trafficking in fentanyl, obstruction of justice by murdering an informant, kidnapping eight people with fatal consequences, including a minor, and money laundering.

On May 30, Pérez pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in New York.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López (July 2024)

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in El Paso, Texas, along with Joaquín Guzmán López, 38, son of El Chapo. Both are in U.S. custody, according to the Justice Department.

Zambada is considered by US authorities to be the current leader of the Sinaloa cartel. His name has appeared in drug trafficking files for years, but no charges have been brought against him in Mexico.

The US Department of Justice said both face multiple charges for “directing the cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”

Authorities had been searching for Zambada for years and in 2021 increased the reward for information leading to his arrest to $15 million.

On July 26, Zambada pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in the United States.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery company. All rights reserved.