Additional Coverage:
The U.S. Department of Justice has reported the arrest of two key figures from the Sinaloa drug cartel, including one of its co-founders, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of the notorious “El Chapo” Guzman. These arrests occurred in El Paso, Texas, as confirmed by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Both Zambada and Guzman Lopez are facing a slew of charges in the U.S. for their alleged leadership roles in the cartel’s criminal activities, notably its lethal fentanyl production and distribution networks. Garland noted the significance of their capture in the ongoing effort to curb the cartel’s operations on American soil.
Ismael Zambada, who has long evaded capture, faces numerous federal indictments and has been a primary target for U.S. and Mexican law enforcement authorities for years. His criminal counterpart, El Chapo, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017, receiving a life sentence in 2019.
In a successful operation concluding on U.S. territory, FBI and DEA agents apprehended the duo near an airstrip close to El Paso. Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI, emphasized the pair’s long history of evading law enforcement and their alleged supervision over extensive illegal drug shipments into the U.S., which have been accompanied by violent acts.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram also highlighted the high-profile nature of these arrests. Zambada’s capture, in particular, deals a significant blow to the Sinaloa Cartel’s operations, given his status as one of the DEA’s most wanted fugitives and a key figure in the drug epidemic in the U.S. Similarly, the arrest of Guzman Lopez marks another critical strike against the cartel leadership, particularly following the extradition and subsequent control assumed by him and his brothers over the cartel’s operations once El Chapo was detained in the U.S.
The U.S. government previously announced a $15 million reward for information leading to Zambada’s capture. Guzman Lopez’s brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was also recently apprehended by Mexican forces as part of a larger operation against the global drug trafficking networks maintained by the Sinaloa cartel.