Leader of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel arrested in Texas
One of the world's most powerful drug traffickers, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, was arrested by US federal agents in El Paso, Texas.
Zambada, 76, founded the criminal Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is currently imprisoned in the United States.
Along with Zambada, Guzman's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, was arrested on Thursday, the United States Department of Justice said.
In February, the United States Attorney's Office charged Zambada with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, a drug more powerful than heroin and responsible for the US opioid crisis.
United States Attorney Merrick Garland said in a statement released Thursday evening that the two men "run one of the most powerful drug cartels in the world."
"El Mayo and Guzman Lopez join the growing list of leaders and associates of the Sinaloa Cartel who have been indicted by the United States Department of Justice," Mr. Garland said. According to
US prosecutors, the Sinaloa cartel is the largest drug trafficker in the United States.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) offered a $15m (£12m) reward for Zambada's capture.
In the 2019 trial of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, his lawyers accused Zambada of giving "all" to the Mexican government to live in public without fear of trial.
"Nothing worked out well," Guzman's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, told the jury. – Made by Mayo Zambia.
Therefore US State Department, Zambada is also the owner of several legitimate businesses in Mexico, including “a large milk company, a bus line, and a hotel”, as well as real estate assets.
Alongside fentanyl charges, he is also facing charges in the US ranging from drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, money laundering and organised crime.
"Fentanyl is the deadliest drug threat Americans have ever faced, and the Sinaloa cartel continues to be the largest trafficker of fentanyl into the United States," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement announcing the updated charges filed against him in February.
She also noted that fentanyl was the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45.
In May, Zambada’s nephew - Eliseo Imperial Castro, who was known as "Cheyo Antrax" - who was also wanted on charges in the US, was killed in an ambush in Mexico.
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