El Chapo's son Joaquín Lopez and Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada in US custody
26 July 2024, 14:32 | Updated: 26 July 2024, 14:36
A senior member of the Sinaloa cartel, Ismael Zambada Garcia, or “El Mayo,” and the son of infamous drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman have been taken into US custody.
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Zambada and the drug lord’s son, also named Joaquin, were captured by authorities in Texas, marking a major blow to the Sinaloa Federation, a global drug-trafficking gang and the number one supplier of fentanyl to the United States.
The pair turned themselves into US police, the Wall Street Journal reports.
"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," Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
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"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 added.
The duo had a whopping $15million bounty placed on their heads by the State Department.
Zambada and El Chapo are believed to be the co-founders of the Sinaloa cartel.
El Chapo is currently serving a life sentence in a Colorado maximum-security prison after being arrested in 2016.
John Callery, a 30-year veteran of the DEA, described El Mayo and Zambada’s arrest as “huge.”
“He was the most careful out of all of them,” Callery said.
“I never thought the old man would ever leave Mexico for any reason.”
“There were so many operations to try to get him in the past, and he was always very smart, very slippery,” Callery added.
“This guy was a legend,” said John Feeley, a former US ambassador with extensive experience in Mexico said.
"The arrest of Ismael Zambada García, better known as 'El Mayo,' one of the alleged founders and leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, strikes at the heart of the cartel that is responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast. El Mayo is one of DEA's most wanted fugitives and he is in custody tonight and will soon face justice in a U.S. court of law," added Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram.
"Joaquin Guzman Lopez, another alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, and the son of 'El Chapo,' was also arrested today - his arrest is another enormous blow to the Sinaloa Cartel. In 2017, he and his brothers, the Chapitos, allegedly took control of the Sinaloa Cartel after El Chapo was extradited to the United States. DEA will continue to seek justice for any American life that is lost and will work tirelessly to prevent more needless deaths and pursue those that are responsible," she continued.
In the years since El Chapo’s arrest, the cartel has been ruled by his sons, known as “Los Chapitos”, alongside Zambada.
One son, Ovidio Guzman, was arrested by the Mexican Army in 2023, before being extradited to the US.
