Mexican drug kingpin Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada in US custody
Two Mexican drug kingpin, including the son of notorious cartel boss El Chapo, have been arrested and are in US custody.
Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa drug cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López surrendered to American law enforcement on Thursday.
Zambada founded the Sinaloa Cartel along with now-jailed drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo‘ Guzman, and he faces a litany of indictments for crimes relating to drug trafficking and organized crime in the US.
Joaquín Guzmán Lopez is one of El Chapo’s sons and was elevated to the cartel’s top leadership in 2017 when his father was extradited to the US.
El Mayo’ [(eft) has led the Sinaloa Cartel’s day-to-day operations while battling diabetes since Joaquin ‘ El Chapo ‘ Guzman (right) was arrested in 2017
The pair were arrested in El Paso, Texas, after getting off a private plane. What prompted them to turn themselves in after years as most-wanted is unclear.
Attorney-General Merrick Garland called the cartel one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world as he detailed the arrests.
‘El Mayo and Guzmán López join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and associates whom the Justice Department is holding accountable in the US,’ he said.
Garland said others from the cartel now behind bars included El Chapo and another of his sons and alleged leader of the Cartel, Ovidio Guzmán López.
The alleged main hitman of the cartel, Néstor Isidro ‘El Nini’ Pérez Salas, was also in American custody, he said.
American federal prosecutors in February charged Zambada with conspiracy to make and distribute fentanyl, but he has never been behind bars.
The Justice Department earlier put an up to $15 million bounty on Zambada’s head, for any information leading to his arrest or conviction.
Joaquín’s brother Ovidio Guzmán López was also arrested in Mexico, and extradited to the US in September to face his own long list of charges.
After El Chapo’s extradition, his criminal empire was inherited by four of his sons – known as Los Chapitos, or Little Chapos – who took over his faction of the cartel and became some of the biggest exporters of fentanyl to the US.
Garland said fentanyl was the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
‘The Department of Justice will not rest until every leader, member, and associate of the cartels responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,’ he said.
More to come.
