Cartel kingpin’s ‘movie noir’ arrest may topple ‘scandal-riddled’ ruling get together

When Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada – one of Mexico’s most-wanted drug lords – was arrested by US officials last month, a collective sigh of relief echoed across America.

But the story of how El Mayo, a man who previously never spent a day in prison, was convinced to fly straight into FBI clutches, has thrust Mexican governor Rubén Rocha into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Rocha is the governor of Sinaola, the cartel-dominated state where first El Chapo, and then El Mayo were based while operating their criminal drug trafficking organisation, the CDS.

READ MORE: Drug lord El Mayo’s ‘calm’ arrest is a ‘Narco Game of Thrones cliffhanger’, says expert

There’s lots of quality news coming out of the US.

On July 25, El Mayo was reportedly lured to a fake meeting by Sinaloan politician Héctor Cuén. The story goes that when the cartel boss arrived, he was abducted and flown across the border where he was picked up by US police on an airstrip in El Paso, Texas.

Some eight hours later, local press back in Sinaloa reported the death of Cuén.

Governor Rocha has always maintained Cuén, who was a known political adversary of his, was killed by gunmen in a botched robbery at a gasoline station and even provided security camera footage of the alleged attack. Rocha then allegedly ordered for Cuén’s body to be immediately cremated.

However, it all came to a head when El Mayo’s lawyer Frank Perez released a damning letter two weeks later, on the former kingpin’s behalf. In two pages, the 76-year-old drug baron managed to shake up Sinaloa’s political chessboard, and completely throw into question the official version of his capture in the United States.

El Mayo claimed Cuén was killed at the house in Mexico where he was abducted. It got worse for Rocha, when federal prosecutors discovered there were four bullet wounds on Cuén, when in the security footage at the gasoline station only one shot could be heard. Gas station employees said they didn’t hear any at all.

Last week ClickOrlando reported federal prosecutors said Sinaloa state officials “mishandled evidence” after they allowed Cuén’s body to be cremated, with an investigation now underway.

Analysts are now claiming it is “very likely” Rocha held meetings with El Mayo, who’s letter has inextricably linked his own arrest with Cuén’s death.

All this calls into question Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s dealings with the cartels. López Obrador’s usual policy with cartel figures is to not arrest them and instead “focus on education” so that less people will join the criminal organisations.

Experts have claimed this all falls apart if one López Obrador’s senior governors is holding meetings with a top cartel figure like El Mayo.

“It isn’t a suspicion any more, it’s a certainty,” said Mexican security analyst David Saucedo. “What has become clear is that what the government has is intermediaries who negotiate with the Sinaloa cartel.”

Speaking about what exactly happened on the day of El Mayo’s arrest, Saucedo said: “It appears to me that El Mayo Zambada’s version is totally more credible. It all adds up.”