The US arrested Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and the son of his former partner, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, in El Paso, Texas, Reuters reported.
Zambada is one of the most powerful drug traffickers in Mexican history and co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo. The latter was extradited to the US in 2017 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison.
Both Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez are facing multiple charges in the United States for smuggling huge shipments of drugs onto US streets, including fentanyl, the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45.
Zambada, about 70, and Guzman Lopez, about 30, were detained after landing on a private plane in the El Paso area, two US officials reported.
Guzman Lopez is one of four sons of El Chapo. They are known as Los Chapitos, or Little Chapos, and have inherited their father’s faction in the Sinaloa Cartel. His brother, Ovidio Guzman, was arrested last year and extradited to the United States. In recent years, the cartel has become a prime target for US authorities, who have accused the crime syndicate of being the largest supplier of fentanyl in the US.
US authorities have put a $15 million bounty on Zambada’s capture and a $5 million for Guzman Lopez’s head.
Sinaloa Сartel
According to US authorities, the Sinaloa Сartel smuggles drugs to more than 50 countries and is one of the two most powerful organised crime groups in Mexico.
Previous arrests of important cartel leaders triggered violence as a power vacuum emerged, resulting in serious infighting within the organisations, as well as between them and their rivals. Over the past year, US authorities have brought new charges against the sons of Zambada and Guzman for smuggling fentanyl, as well as for supplying precursor chemicals to illegal laboratories operated by their crime syndicate.
Over decades, the cartel has built sophisticated supply chains to move drugs around the world and supply highly regulated chemicals to its base in Sinaloa. US Attorney General Merrick Garland stated:
Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Justice Department will not rest until every single cartel leader, member, and associate responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable.
