“El Mayo” Zambada under custody
San Antonio, United States, Jul 25 (EFE).-
The United States arrested on Thursday the alleged leader and co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, after being wanted by American authorities for decades with a reward of $15 million, according to officials.
The US Justice Department said Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was under custody in El Paso, Texas, where they also detained a son of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
“The Justice Department has taken into custody two additional alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most violent and powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. Ismael Zambada Garcia, or “El Mayo,” cofounder of the Cartel, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of its other cofounder, were arrested today in El Paso, Texas,” it said in a statement.
The department said they are both “facing multiple charges in the United States for leading the Cartel’s criminal operations, including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks.”
US border agents were guarding this afternoon the unregistered private plane in which Zambada Guzman Lopez, or “El Güero,” were arrested.
EFE was able to verify that the Beechcraft King Air plane was still being guarded Thursday afternoon after it was confirmed that Zambada landed in it on US territory.
The scene of this arrest, shrouded in mystery, was the discreet private airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, in Dona Ana County.
In February, a New York prosecutor charged Zambada for the fifth time with the crimes of manufacturing and distributing fentanyl in the US.
In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office raised the reward from $5 to $15 million for anyone who provides information leading to Zambada’s arrest, information that can be sent to the Department of Justice by phone, email, and even through social media.
“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,” the text read.
The department also spoke of the arrest of other possible leaders and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel, such as: El Chapo; another of El Chapo’s sons, alleged cartel leader Ovidio Guzman Lopez and the alleged main cartel hitman Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, or “El Nini.”
El Chapo Guzman was arrested in Mexico in January 2016 after leading two escapes in 2001 and 2015, and extradited to the US in January 2017 where he was sentenced in July 2019 to life in prison plus an additional 30 years. EFE
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