Sinaloa Cartel
Powerful drug lord “El Mayo” arrested in the USA
Undated photos of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel
© AFP
Together with “El Capo,” Ismael Zambada founded the notorious Sinaloa cartel. Now he is said to have turned himself in to US authorities – as one of Mexico’s last major drug barons.
One of the most powerful Mexican drug lords has been arrested in the US border city of El Paso. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, was arrested together with a son of his former partner Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera was taken into custody, US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday (local time). According to Mexican media reports, Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López voluntarily turned themselves in to the authorities.
Sinaloa Cartel: Drug lords fall one after the other
The US State Department had offered a reward of up to 15 million US dollars (13.8 million euros) for information that could lead to the arrest of 76-year-old Zambada. Zambada faces several charges in the US, including conspiracy to manufacture cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl, murder and money laundering.
“El Mayo and Guzmán López join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and allies being held accountable by the Department of Justice in the United States,” Garland said.
Sons of “El Chapo” control drug empire
After El Chapo’s extradition to the United States in 2017, his criminal empire was taken over by four of his sons – known as Los Chapitos or Little Chapos, who took over his part of the cartel and became some of the largest exporters of fentanyl to the United States.
Another son of “El Chapo”, Ovidio Guzmán, was extradited from Mexico to the USA in September. The leader of the Sinaloa cartel himself was sentenced to life imprisonment in the USA in 2019. Joaquín Guzmán had previously managed two spectacular prison escapes in Mexico before he was finally arrested.