Did one Mexican drug lord trick or force another to board a plane to Texas to be arrested?

Following the surprise arrest of two suspected drug lords of the Sinaloa cartel in Texas, three police officers believe that one of the men may have tricked the other into boarding a plane to the United States.

However, the lawyer of one of the alleged drug lords has now stated that his client had been “violently kidnapped”.

Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel boss known as “El Chapo,” and cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García were arrested in El Paso on Thursday.

The three law enforcement sources say authorities are investigating whether Guzmán tricked “El Mayo” Zambada into boarding the plane to the U.S. The plane flew first to New Mexico and then to El Paso, where the two men were arrested and taken into custody.

On Sunday, a lawyer for El Mayo told NBC News that his client was ambushed and flown to the United States against his will. “My client did not surrender or negotiate any terms with the U.S. government,” Frank Perez said. “Joaquin Guzmán López forcibly abducted my client. He was ambushed, thrown to the ground and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied and a black bag was placed over his head. He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a runway. There he was forced onto a plane, his legs were tied to the seat by Joaquin and taken to the United States against his will. The only people on the plane were the pilot, Joaquin and my client.”

Both men had previously been charged in the United States. They face “multiple charges” related to the cartel’s criminal activities, “including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Guzmán was flown to Chicago by authorities, while Zambada remained in El Paso, where he is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday.

One theory, according to the sources, is that Guzmán decided to surrender, assuming he would receive more favorable treatment if he brought another major cartel member with him.

According to Homeland Security Investigations, the arrests were the result of a joint HSI-FBI operation against the cartel.

Guzmán’s father, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, was arrested in Mexico in 2017 and extradited to the United States. He is serving a life sentence plus 30 years imposed in New York in 2019.

The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels “are at the center” of the U.S. synthetic drug crisis, which includes fentanyl and methamphetamine, the Drug Enforcement Administration said in its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment.

“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Department of Justice will not rest until every single cartel leader, member and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Garland said in the statement.

Another son of “El Chapo”, Ovidio Guzmán López, who was also suspected of being a cartel leader, was arrested in Mexico in January 2023 and extradited to the United States to face drug and money laundering charges. He pleaded not guilty in September.

A federal grand jury indicted Joaquín Guzmán López and Ovidio Guzmán López in 2018 on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana in the United States

A federal grand jury also indicted Joaquín Guzmán López, Ovidio Guzmán López and two other sons of “El Chapo” last year, the Justice Department said at the time.

The other two sons, Iván Guzmán Salazar and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, were not arrested. The four sons are known as the “Chapitos,” federal officials said, and they took over their father’s drug trafficking network and his faction in the cartel.

According to the DEA, the Sinaloa Cartel consists of four criminal organizations, including “Los Chapitos,” which was led by the four sons.

The brothers worked to make fentanyl a bigger part of the cartel’s business, the 2024 DEA report said.

“The Sinaloa cartel has been producing large quantities of fentanyl since at least 2012, but the Chapitos faction is responsible for highlighting the importance of fentanyl to the cartel’s ‘bottom line,'” the report said.

Zambada García, known as “El Mayo,” was a co-founder of the cartel and co-leader of the criminal organization for three decades, according to the DEA. He controls one of the four factions which form the cartel.

Zambada García is an associate of “El Chapo,” but has recently been involved in an internal power struggle with the “Chapitos,” the agency said.

Charges have also been brought against Zambada García in the United States. In February, a new indictment accused him of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, the Justice Department announced at the time.

DEA Director Anne Milgram said the arrest of Zambada García was “a blow to the heart of the cartel responsible for most of the drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, that are killing Americans from coast to coast.”

“El Mayo is one of the DEA’s most wanted fugitives. He is in custody tonight and will soon face charges in a U.S. court,” Milgram said in a statement.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the United States last year. Most of those – an estimated 74,702 – were due to synthetic opioids, which include fentanyl. The next most common deaths were caused by psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, with an estimated 36,251 deaths, it said.

The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels produce fentanyl in laboratories in Mexico and then ship it to the United States, the DEA said in its report this year.

Both cartels are said to have ordered their subordinates to stop trading fentanyl last year, and the “Chapitos” made a public show of it. However, the DEA concluded that the ban was probably a PR stunt.

“Throughout 2023, fentanyl was seized at the border in equal or greater quantities than in previous years, and no DEA field office reported that fentanyl was less available or more expensive, each of which would indicate a decrease in supply,” it said.