By EFE
26 Jul 2024, 07:45 AM EDT
New York – The arrest of El Mayo Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of El Chapo Guzmán, occurred through a betrayal that led them to believe they were inspecting airfields in Mexican territory instead of landing in the United States, where they were arrested, The Wall Street Journal revealed on Thursday.
According to U.S. officials from Homeland Security Investigations, Zambada and Guzmán López, alias El Güero, thought they were inspecting clandestine airfields in Mexico, but were taken to the vicinity of El Paso (Texas) where FBI agents were waiting for them.
The operation had been in preparation for months and involved several U.S. federal agencies and agents armed with rifles. Zambada is one of the most wanted criminals in the United States, which had put up a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents were guarding yesterday afternoon the unregistered private plane in which Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, leader and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, alias “El Güero,” two of the most wanted drug lords in the United States, were detained.
According to EFE, the Beechcraft King Air plane was still under guard yesterday after it was confirmed that El Mayo Zambada had landed in it on US territory bordering Mexico.
The scene of this arrest, shrouded in mystery, was the discreet private airport of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, in Dona Ana County, very close to El Paso (Texas).
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the sons of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, was arrested along with Zambada.
“The Department of Justice has arrested two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. Ismael Zambada García, or El Mayo, co-founder of the Cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, son of its other co-founder, were arrested today in El Paso, Texas,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
The department noted that both men “face multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its lethal fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”
Last February, a New York prosecutor charged Zambada for the fifth time with the crimes of manufacturing and distributing fentanyl in the United States.
In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office raised the reward from $5 to $15 million for anyone who provided information leading to Zambada’s arrest.
“Fentanyl is the most lethal 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,” the statement said.
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