OAN Staff James Meyers
8:50 AM – Friday, July 26, 2024
Two of the top leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel have been taken into custody by the Department of Justice to face charges for their roles in the cartels, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday.
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A Mexican federal official told the Associated Press that Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of notorious cartel leader “El Chapo” arrived in the United States on a private plane and turned themselves in to authorities.
However, citing Mexican and U.S. officials, the Wall Street Journal reports that Zambada was tricked into boarding the plane by a high-ranking Sinaloa member following a months-long operation by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.
They were placed in handcuffs by FBI agents during an operation that took place at an airstrip near 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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“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,” Garland said.
Zambada is one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the world and is known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations while keeping a lower profile.
The U.S. government had put out a reward for $15 million for information leading to the capture of Zambada, who was on the run from authorities for decades.
Currently, Zambada faces multiple federal indictments for his alleged role in the cartel and has been on the run from U.S. and Mexican authorities for several years. His fellow co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 and convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.
“Today, the FBI and DEA arrested two alleged cartel leaders who have eluded law enforcement for decades. Ismael Mario ‘El Mayo’ Zambada García and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo, will now face justice in the United States,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
“Garcia and Guzman have allegedly overseen the trafficking of tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the U.S. along with related violence. These arrests are an example of the FBI’s and our partners commitment to dismantling violent transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel,” Wray said.
Zambada, who is one of the longest-surviving capos in Mexico, was considered the day-to-day operations person behind the cartel.
During his reign, Zambada fought those who challenged him, and was known for concentrating on the business side of trafficking and avoiding gruesome murders that would draw attention to the drug-trafficking group.
During an interview in April 2010, with Mexican magazine Proceso, Zambada acknowledged that he lived in constant fear of going to prison and would seriously consider suicide rather than be captured.
“I’m terrified of being incarcerated,” Zambada said. “I’d like to think that, yes, I would kill myself.”
Meanwhile, “El Chapo’s” sons have led a faction of the cartel known as the little Chapos, or “Chapitos” that has been identified as one of the main exporters of fentanyl across the U.S. market.
Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the DEA, claimed that Zambada’s arrest is important but unlikely to have much of an impact on the exporting of drugs to the U.S.
Joaquín Guzmán López had the least amount of impact of the four sons who made up the Chapitos, Vigil said.
“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 said.
“It’s not going to have a dent on the drug trade because somebody from within the cartel is going to replace him,” Vigil said.
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