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In a significant victory for U.S. law enforcement, alleged Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, suspected of inundating the United States with deadly fentanyl, has been taken into custody after decades of evading capture. Zambada, 76, the alleged co-founder and leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, was apprehended in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday. Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed the arrest in a statement.
Another key cartel figure, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 38, was also arrested. Guzman Lopez is the son of the infamous cartel co-founder and former boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who is currently serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison following his conviction on multiple charges five years ago.
Both Zambada and Guzman Lopez face numerous charges related to their alleged roles in leading the cartel’s operations, including its “deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks,” Garland stated. He emphasized the Justice Department’s commitment to holding all cartel leaders accountable for poisoning communities with fentanyl.
The sting operation that led to Zambada’s capture involved luring the alleged drug lord into the U.S. under false pretenses. According to law enforcement officials, Zambada and Guzman Lopez were on a plane they believed was en route to inspect a property in Mexico. Unbeknownst to at least one of them, the flight was actually heading to the U.S., where FBI agents arrested them upon landing in El Paso.
Zambada’s capture marks the culmination of years of efforts by U.S. authorities, who had increased the reward for information leading to his arrest to $15 million in 2021. The U.S. State Department described Zambada as a long-time leader of the Sinaloa cartel who had never spent a day in jail despite being a major international drug trafficker throughout his adult life.
FBI Director Christopher Wray highlighted the significance of the arrests, noting that Zambada and Guzman Lopez had “eluded law enforcement for decades” and would now face justice in the United States. He also pointed out that the pair allegedly oversaw the trafficking of massive quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the U.S., along with related violence.
Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram stated that the arrests strike “at the heart of the cartel responsible for the majority of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, killing Americans from coast to coast.”
