WASHINGTON — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of another notorious cartel leader, were arrested Thursday by U.S. authorities in Texas, the Justice Department said.
Leader of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada is one of the world’s most powerful drug traffickers and known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations while keeping a low profile.
The U.S. government had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Zambada’s capture. The Justice Department said the men were arrested in El Paso, but did not immediately provide details on how they were taken into custody.
Zambada and Guzmán López, who eluded authorities for decades, oversaw the trafficking of “tens of thousands of pounds of drugs into the United States, as well as the violence associated with it,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said, adding that they will now “face justice in the United States.”
“Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Department of Justice will not rest until every cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Mexican authorities did not immediately comment on the arrests.
U.S. authorities have been seeking for years to capture Zambada, who has been indicted in multiple cases in the United States. He was indicted in February in the Eastern District of New York on charges of conspiring to manufacture and distribute the synthetic opioid. Prosecutors said he continues to lead the Sinaloa Cartel, “one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
Zambada, one of Mexico’s longest-serving capos, was seen as the cartel’s strategist, more involved in day-to-day operations than his better-known and more visible boss, “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in 2019 and is Guzmán López’s father.
Zambada is an old-school capo, in an era when young drug lords are known for their extravagant lifestyles, clubbing sprees and brutal tactics that include beheading, dismembering and even skinning their rivals. Although Zambada has fought those who challenged him, he is known for focusing on the business side of the trade and avoiding the horrific cartel violence that would draw attention.
In an April 2010 interview with the Mexican magazine Proceso, he acknowledged that he lived in constant fear of going to prison and that he would consider suicide rather than be captured.
“I’m afraid of being incarcerated,” Zambada said. “I would like to think that, yes, I would commit suicide.”
The interview was surprising for a baron known for keeping his head down, but he gave strict instructions about where and when the meeting would take place, and the article gives no indication of his whereabouts.
Zambada reportedly won the loyalty of residents of his home state of Sinaloa and neighboring Durango through his largesse, sponsoring local farmers and distributing money and beer in his hometown of El Alamo.
Although little is known about Zambada’s early life, it is believed that he began as a hitman in the 1970s.
In the early 1990s, he was a major player in the Juarez Cartel, transporting tons of cocaine and marijuana.
Zambada began to gain the trust of Colombian traffickers, allegiances that helped him gain the upper hand in the ever-shifting cartel world. He eventually became so powerful that he broke with the Juarez Cartel, but managed to maintain strong ties to the gang and avoid a turf war. He also developed a partnership with “El Chapo” Guzman that led him to the top of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Zambada’s arrest follows the arrest of other senior members of the Sinaloa Cartel, including one of his sons and another son of El Chapo Guzmán, Ovidio Guzmán López. Zambada’s son pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court in San Diego in 2021 to being a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
In recent years, Guzman’s sons have led a faction of the cartel known as the Little Chapos, or “Chapitos,” which has been identified as a major exporter of fentanyl to the U.S. market.
They were considered more violent and extravagant than Zambada. Their security chief was arrested by Mexican authorities in November.
Ovidio Guzmán López was arrested and extradited to the United States last year. He pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges brought against him in Chicago in September.
Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the DEA, said Zambada’s arrest was significant but likely would not have much impact on the flow of drugs into the United States. Joaquín Guzmán López was the least influential of the four sons who made up the Chapitos, Vigil said.
“It’s a blow to the rule of law, but will it have an impact on the cartel? I don’t think so,” Vigil said.
“It will have no effect on drug trafficking because someone from inside the cartel will replace him,” Vigil said.
Verza and Sherman reported from Mexico City.
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