TWO of the most powerful drug lords in Mexico, including the son of infamous cartel boss El Chapo, have been arrested in Texas.
Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the notorious Mexican drug kingpin and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, along with Joaquín Guzmán López, are now in US custody after being arrested at the Santa Teresa International Jetport in Texas on Thursday afternoon, according to the Department of State.
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The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most dominant criminal drug-trafficking organizations in Mexico.
Zambada and Guzmán López are thought to be among the most powerful drug traffickers in Mexico, accused of commanding a massive cocaine and fentanyl trafficking operation that moves narcotics into the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.
Zambada, known as “El Mayo,” has been pursued by the US government for years and has been charged in several federal indictments stretching back more than two decades.
He is thought to be one of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, and is believed to be the main strategist of the Sinaloa cartel.
However, Zambada has never been imprisoned, unlike his top ally, Joaquin Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo, who was extradited to the United States and convicted in a Brooklyn federal court in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison on drug conspiracy charges.
Authorities believe that Zambada is more involved in the cartel’s day-to-day operations than El Chapo was.
Now El Chapo’s son, Guzmán López, who was arrested alongside Zambada, is believed to have been elevated to a leadership role in the cartel along with his brothers after the extradition of his father to the United States in 2017.
His brother Ovidio Guzmán López was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the United States in September.
In the years following El Chapo’s sentence, his sons have allegedly led a faction of the cartel known as the “little Chapos,” or “Chapitos,” according to the Associated Press.
This faction has been identified by drug enforcement agents as one of the main exporters of fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, to the US.
In February, federal prosecutors charged Zambada with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, which is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Prosecutors described Zambada as a leader within the Sinaloa cartel, which they called, “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
Zambada is believed to have been among the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel since the 1970s and has strong ties to Colombian cocaine suppliers with cells across the United States.
This effectively made Zambada one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world.
The DEA even offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Zambada’s capture.
“The Justice Department has taken into custody two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world,” The US Justice Department said in a statement.
“Ismael Zambada Garcia, or ‘El Mayo,’ cofounder of the Cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of its other cofounder, were arrested today in El Paso, Texas.”
“Both men are facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks,” the department’s statement continued.
“El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates who the Justice Department is holding accountable in the United States.”
“That includes the Cartel’s other cofounder, Joaquin Guzman Loera, or ‘El Chapo’; another of El Chapo’s sons and an alleged Cartel leader, Ovidio Guzman Lopez; and the Cartel’s alleged lead sicario, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, or ‘El Nini,'” they said.
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” the department concluded.
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